Waited for so Long
by Samman
Summary: CHAPTER 9 UP NOW. Don't have much to tell so why don't ya'll come and read for yourself?
1. Part I

**Disclaimer: The x-men and respective characters belong to Marvel.**

**Author's Note: _An idea struck me when I was having a really bad day…so I quickly jot it down and here it is. A 2-part fic for Rogue/Remy lovers. Believe me…you're gonna love it and at the same time, you'll hate it. And yes…I'm putting my story _****FAKE on hold as there are two already up here online and it's kinda difficult for me to take care. Reviews please please please?**

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**Waited for so long**

_by__ Samman_

**Part I**

"So professuh, umm are we gonna have anymore therapy sessions…that Ah meant ta check mah mind's state?" Rogue's voice was heavy with emotion that she wanted to express but since she had waited soo long, she could wait five more minutes. She was gonna let it out the moment she took a step out of Professor Xavier's office.

Professor smiled genuinely, the smile that seemed brightest of all to Rogue right now. He said, "Yes Rogue, so that we can see if you have complete control over your state of mind and not to forget…your newly controlled powers."

Rogue's huge green eyes lit up with natural twinkle of happiness. "Alraght professuh…" She nodded confidently and folded her arms over her chest.

He watched Rogue with a smile on his face and thought that how his most loyal x-man was now sitting in front of him with a delight on her face after a long time. One of her reasons for being in the institute was completed. She had earned the fruit for which she had planted all those seeds by working day and night, more than the other x-men did and risked her life for the sake of other x-men in every battle.

"Rogue, I want you to know that I am more than happy to have you control your powers. You know that right?" He asked as she looked at her uncovered, small and delicate hands.

Rogue didn't know whether to laugh or cry with happiness. She took a deep breath before she said answered. "Yeah Professuh, Ah don' know how t' thank you…You've been more to me than just a teacher." She paused and her tear filled eyes shifted to her hands again.

"Ah nevuh had a family…nevuh had a Dad..or mom. Ah guess you served as mah fatha an' mothuh both. It's so amazin' how we've worked together for so long. To tell y' the truth…sometimes Ah lost all the enthusiasm in controllin' mah powers..Ah was too tired of tryin' over and over an' failin' everytime Ah tried but you always brought me back on track." 

Rogue always was irritated when she watched movies and saw people crying with happiness and it was her habit to pass a comment that it was sappy but now she realized how she felt right now. May be there were not many happy moments in her life….maybe she was born to cry…weather it was with happiness or sadness.

She wiped away a tear slowly that slipped out of her eyes. No more hiding tears now.

Professor Xavier shook his head and swiftly moved his wheel chair around the table and to her side. He kept one hand on her head like an older, loving person would do to his child. "Rogue, Remember that whenever you achieve something, it's for yourself. You do something, you do it by yourself. Nobody except you does it for you. So do not even think about having to depend on others to help you control your powers. You did a well enough job and did it for yourself. Understood?"

She nodded slightly, a hiccup escaped her lips and she laughed. "Okay Professuh…Thank ya once again."

"It is not as if you are leaving Rogue, but make sure you walk in for check ups…I'm going to miss our therapy sessions." The older man said with a sad smile and Rogue smiled at his little joke but then her face was confused.

"Whad d' ya mean Professuh? Ah won't have this control permanent?" Her eyes widened.

Professor could not believe her childishness…but then again she was a child. Only difference was that was that she had seen too much…experienced too many nasty things and had seen the harsh side of the world than a normal student would have.

"No Rogue, I am only talking about the voices in your mind and how to keep them locked in the barriers of your Psyche." He said.

"Okay…" Rogue kept a finger to her lips. "Umm…who do you think should be the first person Ah break this good news to?" Her eyes glittered with excitement.

Professor narrowed his eyes thinking something. "You tell me, Rogue."

Chewing her lip, Rogue gradually spoke not to say something she was not supposed to even though she knew that Professor was aware of the past incidents. "Since you know Remy an' Ah have a special relationship..Ah mean we had one. Do you think he should be the first person Ah tell this?"

"I certainly do not know…whatever is fine with you, you can think about it and proceed as you want." He encouraged her.

Rogue's eyes searched for something, as she stared into space. She fiddled with her bare hands and her face saddened as she spoke. "Ah apologized ta Remy 'bout two months ago…when he came back from Antarctica. But he sort o' let it slip away an' Ah knew he didn' fohgive me. So maybe Ah think Ah should tell somebody else."

Professor listened and waited as she blinked her eyes slowly and folded both of slim legs up on the chair in an Indian style. "Y' know Remy has always been desperate 'bout helpin' me controllin' mah powers so Ah'm thinkin' of apologizing to him again and breaking the news to him. Ah don't wanna ruin it for mahself by tellin' him first, doncha think?"

She thought how close she and Professor had become these years that she was actually discussing her personal matters with the _Professor._

"Yes I think that this one is a preferable idea. And listen Rogue, I want this to be special for you. Do not do anything insane and take one step at a time. I do not want to see you hurt…and so does not Remy or….Wolverine. You have a lot of people that love you." Professor said as he kept his hand on her shoulder.

Rogue stood up and stretched. "Ah promise Ah won't, after all Ah've been waitin' for this moment for a loooong tahme." She said happily…merriment glistening in her eyes and pink cheeks.

Both of them planned on having a next meeting after a week and Rogue left his office.

_Tonight's gonna be a special evenin'. Rogue thought on her way as she jumped and ran through the hallways…her long hair flipping up and down and her form shinning from the afternoon sunlight peeking through the humongous windows on either side of the hall._

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**_A/N__: Okay…So umm..I hope that wasn't boring, even if you found it sappy, guys I had to make it so that you can feel how Rogue felt. The ballistic…fantastic...dramatic…emotional…and romance filled Chapter 2 will be up soon than you expect! Depends on the _****reviews. :) **


	2. Part II

**Disclaimer: The x-men don't belong to me, Marvel owns them.**

**Author's Notes: _Thanks a lot for the great feedback. Hopefully I'll have more of it for this chapter. :) __I'm sorry I couldn't put up this chapter soon as I had expected because some things came in the way…but fear not! This chapter is for _****Gambit/Rogue fans! And yes, I have extended the story to 3 chapters…maybe four. Yeah well… I'm not sure but it's not going to more than that. ;-)**

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**Waited for so long**

_by Samman_

**Part II**

The first person Rogue met, she was going to tell the good news to him or her-not caring whoever it was-except _Remy. Rogue had decided so she wouldn't be confused._

Rogue hopped from the last steps on the stair case and jumped-A sign that reflected her mood, her good mood. As she approached loudly, she saw that the tv was turned on in loudly volume in the tv lounge and a figure sprawled lazily on the couch. Rogue saw one muscular arm stretched out, with the fingers flicking the channels rapidly.

Shinny and short auburn strands was what Rogue could make out of the figure's head as it was hidden beneath a cushion, but Rogue did make out the form of the person. It was _Remy._

As soon as she found out, her eyes spotted Jean and she shrieked, "Jean!!!" But the action was involuntary. Jean, who had been very busy in arranging the books in the shelf by the tv, distracted and astonished, snapped her head to look at the person who had screamed at the highest pitch of her voice in excitement.

Remy sat up straight in the couch to see what was wrong but his eyes traveled up at…_Rogue who stood a few steps away from the stair case. Her shapely legs clad in a tight, rough jeans and a sleeveless white shirt that clung rounded over her generous breasts was nothing unusual for Rogue to wear…except the sleeveless t-shirt that exposed her arms __and…a lot more that Remy had been wanting to see for so long._

Her hair was tied in pony tail from which silky and heavy hair nearly reached her lower back. Two red on black eyes widened at the sight of Rogue, obviously _Remy's._

The apparently confused Rogue who stood facing the two x-men in front of her, spoke, "Ah…Jean, Ah wanted ta tell y' somethin'." She rubbed her sweaty palms on her jeans and glanced at Remy who raised his eyes with curiosity.

Jean sighed deeply and kept a hand over the middle of her chest. "Jesus, Rogue you scared me. What's so important?" She sounded relieved and then continued to dust the vase she had been cleaning.

Remy's eyes merely flashed with anger as he saw Bobbing come up behind Rogue and rest a gloved hand around her shoulder. "Hey Rogue."

"Hi Sugah." Rogue smiled-a smile that Remy hadn't seen in a long time.

Casually throwing the remote away in the corner, Remy stood up and stretched as if he wasn't aware of the two people near him at all. He stretched with long arms way up over his head and the white t-shirt revealed his well built arms and a six pack which Rogue, very hardly tried to stop looking at.

Her eyes drifted to stare into her past lover's eyes and since she had controlled her powers, with all her might she suppressed the urge to go and run her hands along his chest and biceps.

"So Rogue, what's up?"

Remy angrily shoved past them, his anger not at Bobby but at Rogue who did not even flinch or stepped away from Bobby. He wondered how she used to yank his hand away even if he put a hand on her shoulder—and here…Bobby was standing so close to her that his arm was all the way around to her other shoulder.

Rogue watched as Remy went without saying a word. She had expected nothing better as this was what they had been doing since Remy's return from Antarctica. They hadn't said more than a word or two to each other. Well this was going to be over…it wouldn't last long…hopefully and maybe if God wanted to-they would be together again. 

Oh well…that did not matter anymore. Remy had _someone else now and he was planning on telling the x-men about it anytime soon._

Rogue, who still stood talking to Bobby knew that Remy had tried his best to ignore them but being around Remy for the past couple of years…she was an expert of reading expressions of his face. She knew Remy was jealous. _He won't be be jealous---not anymore...Rogue thought, mischief glittering in her eyes._

Bobby turned around to look at Remy who walked up the steps and into the hallway. He grinned ridiculously, it was obvious that he was happy that he had the power to actually stay so close to Rogue in the presence of _Remy._

Nudging his arm away gently, Rogue smiled up at him and went to Jean. "Ah gotta go…See ya later." Bobby nodded as he played around with the keys swinging them high in air, he then retreated out of the main door. "Bye."

Jean awkwardly looked in the direction of the main door, up the stairs where Remy had left and then at Rogue. She shrugged and gave herself mental note. _'I shouldn't interfere in their personal problems…It's none of my business.'_

She finished her task by swiftly running the cloth over the dusty, hardbound book and kept it back in the neatly arranged collection of books. With a curious glance she looked at Rogue who stood in the middle of the room and flicked channels boringly.

"So Rogue…You wanted to tell me something?" Jean said as she gave an overall look at the shelf.

"Hunh?" Rogue's head snapped and she shut the tv off. "Yeah well..it's somethin' personal." She moved towards Jean slowly.

Beautifully done eyebrows rose out of their place on Jean's forehead and she solemnly asked. "What is about?" Although she tried very hard not to take a look into Rogue's mind as the anxious look on Rogue's face was irritating her.

Narrowing her huge green eyes…Rogue took another step towards Jean who frowned confusingly. "Yeah well Promise you won' tell it ta anybody else?"

"Uh Okay." Jean nodded and her she cleared her throat…slightly confounded by Rogue's unusual behavior.

"An' if ya do tell it…ya know what Ah'm gonna do raght?" Rogue smirked mischievously and stripped off her gloves.

"I-I don't understand Rogue." Jean shook her head as she played around with the cloth in her hand she had been cleaning with.

"Ya know what…Ah've got some great news for ya." Rogue smiled evilly as she stripped off her gloves and threw them on the floor.

"What in the world are you—Rogue!!!" Jean's eyes widened as Rogue took a step as fast as lightning and pressed her warm palms against Jean's cheeks.

Rogue's giggles had not yet exploded out of her mouth that she kept in hold and tried not to laugh at the stunned Jean who stood with the cloth in her arm and her eyes wide staring into Rogue's who took a step back.

Jean licked her lips and cleared her dry throat. "Y-your powers…Rogue?" She was just too scared to say something else other than the only thing in her mind that she was alive and standing at the same place she was at a minute ago.

"Exactly." Rogue nodded and clasped a delicate hand over her mouth as the laughter erupted.

 "You didn't control your powers did you?" Jean asked cautiously not being straight forward about it as she knew Rogue was sensitive to these subjects. But Rogue nodded confidently and as soon as the realization hit Jean she too clasped a hand over her mouth. Her eyes were wider than before.

"Ah controlled mah powers Jean..Last night. Sorry if Ah gave you a scare." She looked at her hands.

"Wow Rogue you controlled your power! Oh my god nobody will believe it." Jean jumped up and down and Rogue joined in, both of them laughing.

Rogue hadn't expected Jean to be this happy…She always thought Jean was the prissy, preppy kind who'd never look beyond anything rather than herself and Scott. But Rogue was wrong…not entirely…but she was. May be that was because of all the troubles she had had before and it seemed to Rogue that everyone was harsh to her.

"So no body else knows?!" Jean said as they came to a stop, her face red with laughing so hard.

She quickly shook her head. "Nope. Shh..Ah don' wan' anybody else ta know 'bout it." She retied her hair and rested her hands on the side of her waists, her breath easing as she stood there for a minute.

"So ahem..I guess you're looking forward to tell it to someone in particular?" Jean asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

A flush rose to Rogue's cheeks and she _smiled-that was the best answer the Jean's question who understood that and grinned back. "He was just here Rogue-well until um..Bobby came. You should have told him!" Jean threw up her hands and whispered loudly getting closer to Rogue so she could hear her properly._

Not changing her previous decision, Rogue said, "Yeah. Ah didn' wanna spoil all the fun. But he's the second person Ah wanna tell. Ah gotta go now, 'kay? See y' 'round Jeanie." Rogue waved her hand at Jean and jumping on the couch she flipped on the other side of the couch and rested her feet on the floor.

"But Rogue…wait! So why exactly was _I the first person to hear the good news?" Jean asked, her face lit up with genuine happiness as she said hoarsely._

Rogue chewed on her lip before replying. "Cuz Ah wanted to tell this ta the first person Ah'd meet…no matter who it was." She shrugged looking down. "Except _Remy." _

Jean's eyes softened and she relaxed. "Awe Rogue." She kept a finger to her lips, thinking of sharing the idea that had just struck her, with Rogue. "You know what Rogue? You should throw a party for us."

Laughing merrily, the younger woman replied, "Whatevuh Y' wan' Jean…whatevuh y' want." Rogue said as she backed up with her front still facing Jean. "Now if ya'll excuse meh, Ah've got somethin' _important ta do." Her eyes glittered with naughtiness as she ran up the front steps from where Remy had retreated._

Jean stood there...with a faint smile that still remained on her lips and she reminded herself not to let it slip in anyone's presence.

****

Remy closed the door behind him with the softest click that no one would have been able to hear. He slowly slid out of his shirt, taking it off. As Remy threw it in the corner, he sensed something strange in the room. He paused where he stood and his eyes suspiciously scanned the room…his head and body not moving at all.

Being a master thief…he wasn't tensed at all but why would somebody sneak up in his room like that? A wicked grin masked his handsome features as he became aware of the situation.

_'So chere's sneakin' up on Gambit, eh?' Remy walked calmly, but in a manner so that no one would be able to the faint sound of his steps. His long fingers caressed the gold handle of the closet and as soon as he slid it open, he quickly grabbed the lean, small wrist that came to his face to strike him._

Remy had found out that _she had been hiding in __his closet the moment he had stepped in his room. He knew that she was hiding in there to scare him but he already knew…__awe cherie. He knew that she had been finding ways to cheer him up lately after his trial…_

He shouldn't be thinking about that right now, Remy thought as he fought to let go of her who struggled in the closet as it was dark in that tiny space and she was behind the clothes that hung in rows. He became worried as the person in the closet wrapped up in the clothes that hung there...but only until the muffled giggles broke out from inside.

A smirk crept up Remy's face and his hand traveled up on the soft skin of the arm and slid down to the waist wrapping itself around it…

**_To be continued…_**

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_A/N: As I told you before, this is a three part fic now…so wait until the next chapter comes out and review what you think will happen next. I bet you all know who the person in the closet is…;)_


	3. Part III

**Disclaimer: X-men don't belong to me, they're the property of Marvel.**

**Author's Notes: _Thanks for the lovely reviews guys._**

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**Waited for so long**

_by__ Samman_

**Part III**

"Goddess!"

"Chere you okay?" Remy's face replaced the smirk with slight concern. He reached a muscled arm further inside the closet and pulled her out of the closet.

The beautiful face of Ororo was covered by a tumbled shirt that she irritatingly pulled out of her face and threw backwards. "Remy…" 

She smiled at him and her shinny, blue eyes stared into his blazing red ones. Remy laced his fingers through his' and stayed there, just like that, until he felt the urge to pull her into a hug lovingly…and he did.

"Oh Remy, I love you so much I-you can't imagine how much I care about you." She breathed in his hair that smelled of fresh shampoo.

Remy pulled away and looked at her confusingly. "Why do you realize dis so suddenly 'Ro?" He tugged a strand behind her ear.

Ororo took a moment to reply, instead she ran her slender hands over his rough jaw and inhaled the air around her deaply, "Remy, every time I see you tensed, it makes me feel that you will come and break up with and in a flash, all this relationship will go in the trash can."

She pulled apart and kept a hand over her eyes, her head hanging.

"So you're tryin' to say y' don' trust me?" Remy asked, his face expressionless.

"I never said that and you know I never will. Rogue upset you about something?" She said, once again wrapping her arms around her new lover, Remy.

Remy's head shot up at Rogue's name and he looked into Ororo's wide eyes. "What makes you say _dat Stormy?"_

Ororo seemed embarrassed at herself for saying that, "Because that is the only thing that might upset you, as far as I know." Her face softened after the harsh words that she spit out without thinking what the effects would be.

"No it's not'ing. I was jus' t'inkin' 'bout our relationship, how we used to fight an' all but Rogue's out of dis, outta m' personal life-forever. De past is past, when we were toget'er, she she should've enjoyed dat time if she regrets..not being wit' me." Remy moved closer to her.

"Now I'm wit' you and I don' care 'bout what de world t'inks 'bout you an' me…about us." Remy grinned down at Ororo and they kissed…a slow and passionate one that sent both of them out of their minds.

****

Rogue walked in the quiet and empty men's hallway, her destination near. She wondered how Remy was going to react. She stopped dead in her track as a thought ran over her mind…Making a full u-turn, Rogue headed towards her own bedroom.

She reached her bedroom door in the women's wing and reached for the door knob. Rogue slipped inside and breathed in the fresh air coming from her open window. She hadn't had a sigh of relief since morning. 

First, Rogue decided that she was going to take a shower, change, relax and then go meet him. This was going to be the happiest moment of her life and Rogue wanted to be happy herself and make _him happy as well._

Rogue gasped as she set her feet on the chilly tiles of the bathroom floor. Turning her back towards the tub, she stretched her arms and Rogue's world rotated 180 degrees as her foot slipped causing her to wave her arms in order to maintain her balance. But her feet did not help her and loosing control, Rogue's lower legs hit the floor and a cry escaped her lips.

She did not get a chance to think about her invulnerability as the pain in her right leg was unbearable…

Rogue extended her hand to grab the sink to not fall completely but her hand failed from reaching and Rogue fell on her back with a loud thud and finally knocking her head against the tub…

"Rem—Sum---" She tried to call out but that second seemed like ages when her voices didn't support her either. Her vision blurred and her eyes instantly filled with tears, her body not being able to cope with the stinging sharp ache at the back of her head.

Once again, Rogue tried to raise her voice…tried to say something but didn't succeed, and neither did her arms or legs move when she attempted to do so.

_What was happening to her?_

Visions and clips of different people rewound in her mind in a lightning speed, so fast that it seemed like faces…lots of faces captured in a twister…She did not hear any sounds or voices, there was just a continuous piercing tone flowing through her head…

The visions were although recognizable in the blur of Rogue's mind…she saw people, people laughing…crying…angry people… Childhood memories came in her mind, she saw a little girl in a man's arms…she saw the same girl with a white strip running down her brown hair…the vision of the same girl flew faded in Rogue's head where she was sitting on a swing with curly brown hair flowing in the wind….

And the cycle repeated with several other people that Rogue now couldn't recognize anymore…

Rogue's lips remained half open and her eyes half even when she felt something…wet at the back of her head that was tilted half against the tub and half against the floor. Not being able to move, Rogue tried to breath…breath harder as she felt her throat getting dry and her stomach twisting inside her…

She breathed in several times, harder, but the harder she did it, she felt herself loosing her breath. It became more difficult in seconds. Despite being totally helpless laying there, Rogue tried yelling but her voice came in small weird cries, she couldn't even speak so yelling was far away in her range…

The pain in her head grew so badly that it seemed someone had stabbed her mind and was pushing the dagger further in there. Tears rolled and slid out of her eyes and dropped on the tile, one by one. 

_May be this is the end…_

Rogue didn't have the time to even think anything when her mind didn't respond, she didn't recognize herself. It seemed someone had blocked all her senses…

In those five minutes that seemed like an year, Rogue tried to ease but if she tired harder and lost…it would hurt much more and without thinking of anything and leaving her mind blank, Rogue did not get a chance to say goodbye to the world and in less than a second, the rhythmic beat of the strong heart of a brave woman stopped to an end…

**_To be continued…_**

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**_A/N: Okay okay calm down…think about it, Is Rogue really dead? What will Remy do when he finds out? Is anyone even going to find out what happened? Just wait and see what happens in the next chapter._**


	4. Part IV

**Disclaimer: The x-men don't belong to me..well duhhhh**

**Author's Note: _Thanks a lot to every single person who are reading this fic and reviewing too…I'll try to keep up with your likes and dislikes as much as I can. This is a looong chapter, sit back tight and enjoy._**

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**Waited for so long**

_by__ Samman_

**Part III**

Jean folded the t-shirts and kept them on the bed beside the pile of the fresh laundry clothes that she had just brought. The birds in the bright afternoon chirped loudly that were flying past by her bedroom window.

_She looks very unusually happy today, something's up for sure. Scott, who sat at bed flipping pages of the news paper peered his eyes curiously at her, he had an advantage of wearing the ruby glasses that no one could directly stare in his eyes, he smiled to himself. He stared at Jean who was busy thinking something, that was obvious, he thought as he saw the constant smile plastered on her face._

"Looks like someone's having a good day." Scott tried to look at his paper casually.

Jean stopped and looked at him. "Oh yes I am Scott." She went back to her work.

Scott looked at her and now he had her attention, he wanted to ask that something fishy was going on there. "Not that I don't like that lovely smile of yours but care to share something with me?"

Tilting her head, Jean sighed and smiled once again. She ran a hand through her hair and shrugged. "It's nothing. I'm just havin' a good day Scott."

He still was unconvinced. "I'm glad Jeanie. But I know something _is there." _

Jean looked at him and frowned. "I'll tell you when the time comes. Happy?" She twitched the corner of her lips and her irritated face disappeared.

"Whatever you say Jean." Scott yawned with his mouth wide open and slid in his covers.

"Scooott." Jean whined not wanting him to go to sleep on a Saturday morning.

"Okay okay, I won't asleep for long." He closed his eyes and wrapped a well build arm around the blanket covering himself.

_Calm down yourself. You're a big girl now. Jean scolded herself, she couldn't stop thinking what Rogue would be doing right now. To her assumption, Jean sought out that Rogue would be in Remy's room right now. She had left the tv lounge half an hour ago…_

****

"Everyone come on. It's ready." Jean loudly said as she put a dish full with steaks on the table. Wearing an apron, she was running from the kitchen to the dining room and back into the kitchen as she set the food on the table for lunch.

Scott came down the front steps, buttoning his shirt and his wet brown hair was ruffled over his eyes as he had just gotten out of the shower. "Oooh I'm starving Jean." 

He inhaled the smell of the yummy food that Jean had just made. He looked left and right as he approached the dining table. "Where is everybody?" Scott said to Jubilee as she came with a pitcher of water and glasses.

"Wolvie is busy as usual, fixing his bike in the garage." She rolled her eyes. "Last time I checked Remy was watchin' tv.  Bobby's in the kitchen helpin' Jeanie."

"Remy's taking a shower, he'll be here soon."

"Has anyone seen Ororo lately?" Scott pulled the chair out and sat.

"Yes, she just sent me a message through her COM badge that she was busy and will not be joining us for lunch." Professor wheeled the chair to his specific place and kept his hands on the table.

Startled, Scott looked up at Professor. "Oh Hi Professor. Isn't it strange? That we're the ones who are usually busy _every single weekend but today it's the opposite."_

"Yes, he actually got time to sleep today, and in the _afternoon." Jean shook her head as she finally came wiping her hands with a towel and sat beside Scott._

"It's good to see that you took some time off for yourself Scott." Professor said who was setting the food in his plate.

Scott nodded and Jubilee sighed. "Bobby come on out! I already at last night's left overs-sorryyy!" She yelled at Bobby who was still in the kitchen doing something. "Hurry up now, I'm waiting for you."

Professor smiled, he liked how Jubilee always waited for Bobby during breakfast, lunch and dinner. Everything seemed to be so calm in the mansion nowadays.

"Where is Rogue?" Scott asked suddenly, his mouth filled with food.

Jean suddenly jerked her head up from where she had been looking down at her food. She quickly chewed and tried to swallow down the food but Jubilee was already up and ready to go to call Rogue's room to ask her for dinner.

"I'll go get her." Jubilee ran to the right of the room and quickly advanced her steps.

Loudly, Jean stood from her seat and gulped down her food. "No she said she wasn't hungry!" The shout escaped her lips involuntary and she tried to relax. She knew that Rogue was in Remy's room and no one knew about the news Rogue was going to share with the x-men and when was she going to do that.

Scott and Professor stopped eating and looked at Jean in astonishment. "Jean. What's the matter? She's just going to check on her." He pointed at Jubilee who stood and it was clear that she was thinking why Jean was acting so weird.

"Oh. Oh I was just saying that because then Jubilee wouldn't be here either. Because I want everyone to be together at the table on weekends and already, no one is here." Jean tried to act okay as soon as she sat down and focused on the food.

Jubilee came down and sat opposite to Jean. "Never mind, I guess I should start eating because I don't think Bobby's comin' any time soon here." _Asshole. Jubilee cursed at him playfully in her mind._

Scott looked at Professor and shrugging, he continued eating. "Can you pass me the salad Jean?"

"Oh yeah sure. Here it is." Jean passed the salad did her best to ignore the Professor who was concentrating on something else as he looked down at the food. 

_[Umm excuse me Professor but since you're already thinking that why am I acting so weird but…let me tell you that Rogue told me of her new discovery.] Jean mentally nudged the Professor who nodded._

Professor sipped water from the glass. _[Congratulations that you were the first person she chose to tell the great news. I am very proud of her.] "So Did you check on the new codes that Remy installed last week?" Professor asked Scott while he talked to Jean in his mind._

"No I didn't, actually I was just too busy checking on the new _danger room security system that he fixed so I didn't get time." Scott swallowed the food down and continued. "I'll be doing that anytime soon."_

"Oh then you do not need to hurry. It can be done anytime soon." Professor nodded. _[Although it is none of my concern of when she will be disclosing the news to the x-men but do you know anything of her whereabouts today?]_

Jean looked at the younger mutant in front of her, Jubilee who was playing around with her fork in the plate. "Jubilee why don't you take some bread?" 

She handed the dish filled with bread to Jubilee who accepted it great fully. "Thanks."

Nodding, Jean concentrated on what Professor Xavier had just said. _[She did tell me that she'd be telling the x-men soon but since she was too excited to not to tell it to everyone so quickly, I didn't really bother to ask her what she was going to do. Although I **am planning to throw her a party.]**_

Professor chuckled in his mind. _[It's good to hear that Jean.]_

The four x-men ate the food in silence until the Professor jerked from his place and a frown appeared on his forehead. Jean, Scott and Jubilee looked at him with worry.

"You okay Professor?" Scott said as he stopped eating his food.

Jean quickly poured him a glass of water and set it on the table. "Professor are you alright?" She gave him a minute to reply when she saw he kept his hands over his temples.

"I…I am fine. I felt something…_strange. Something __unusual." Ge opened his eyes and looked at the stunned x-men._

_He must be getting one of his headaches…after all he **is a telepath. Jean stood beside him while Jubilee and Scott remained in their own positions.**_

"What was it?" Scott seemed to be fine, he figured it was nothing to worry about _too much._

Professor looked at Jubilee who looked left and right and awkwardly continued eating. He then looked at Jean who motioned him to continue. "It is nothing serious. I believe it is one of my headaches. Can you do me a favor Jean?"

"Yes sure Professor, what is it?" Jean looked at him with concern.

"I know where my x-men are but I want to make sure they are all fine. Can you go and check on Rogue for me? I felt something from her but I am not sure what it was."

"Should I?" Jean nodded as she wiped her hands with a napkin.

"Please do." Professor nodded and eyed Scott who was running his tongue around his mouth nervously. "I am sorry I worried you." Professor shook his head at himself and Jean exited up the stairs.

"No problem, you just startled us a little. Something's up with Rogue?" Scott lowered his head to his plate.

Professor Xavier wanted to take a quick scan of what all the x-men were doing but he left them as they were. "I felt someone calling me and I believe it was Rogue. But that was just my assumption."

"Too much sessions with her I guess." Scott said. "You should really slow things down."

"I am trying to Scott. Do not worry." Professor smiled.

Jubilee who had been sitting there for a while had not interrupted the conversation for once but soon her laughter broke out when she heard Bobby yelling that he was finished cooking whatever he had been preparing in the kitchen. The professor and Scott joined her too.

****

Jean went up the stairs quickly, frustrated that why was everyone so bothered about Rogue and Remy? After all Rogue had controlled her privacy. Couldn't these people give them some privacy? Jean thought, walked in the hallway where the x-women had their bedrooms.

Well the point was they did not even know about Rogue controlling her powers so whey would they bother about disturbing her? _Well they'll find soon enough. A grin appeared on Jean's pretty face that was surrounded by red curls._

She came to a white door that belonged to Rogue. Jean raised a fist to the door and slightly knocked on it.

Knock Knock. Nothing. Jean chewed her lip and her brow furrowed. Part of Jean was tensed-The way Professor had oddly reacted downstairs in the dining room just minutes ago freaked her out. 

Knock. Nothing again.

"Rogue, Are you in there?" Jean asked and she pressed her ear to the door listening for something but the room was pin-drop-silent.

Jean twisted the door knob absently and door was unlocked. She stepped into the room and rested her hands on her hips noticing that she wasn't in the room. Everything in the room was set perfectly and the light from the closed window behind Rogue's bed sent off sun-light shinning through the room.

She _did see that the bed covers were in their place so Rogue was obviously not taking a nap. It was nothing unusual because Rogue was not much of a person who would take naps in the afternoon. She was not even in the bathroom…_

_What time is it? Jean looked at the clock placed on the night stand. __2:32, was the time on the clock. __It is most likely for Rogue to be with Remy right now…l_

Backing away slowly Jean went out and shut the door behind her. Instead of going downstairs, Jean made her way to the right that led her to the men's wing.

She quickened her pace as her mind whirled with confusion, Rogue had _told her that she would stay at the mansion. Nothing would be so important to come up __today so there was not a possibility of Rogue going outside._

_Hmm..She brought a finger up to her lips as she passed by Remy's room and decided why not check in. She took two three steps back and knocked at the door._

Jean heard some voices and the door opened in two minutes.

"_Oh." Jean's heart raced as she saw Remy standing in front of her __without a shirt __and with someone __else other than Rogue standing behind him. Ororo. Jean hoped to God that it was __not what it looked like to her._

"Hey chere. 's up?" Remy said, he smiled at her and grabbed his shirt from the corner where he had thrown, after putting it on he opened the door fully, a sign that seemed like he invited Jean to come in who remained outside.

"Umm nothing. Are you-err..Why didn't you come to lunch Remy?" Jean said hesitantly.

"_That's what y' wanted t' ask me chere?" Remy raised his eyebrows at her, his behavior changed now from when Jean had seen him in the morning._

Licking her lips, Jean eyed Ororo at the back. "No. That's not all. Did I disturb you guys?" She looked at him suspiciously.

The woman who still stood beside Remy, known as Ororo indulged herself in cleaning and throwing items here and there in attempt to clean the room. She seemed embarrassed and blushed that Jean had caught them in Remy's _locked room together with Remy __without a shirt. She thought that Jean must have known what they were doing by her and Remy's condition if __not by telepathy. _

Ororo's silver hair hung loose at her back and she just wore a simple button down shirt and jeans. Remy on the other hand was wearing only rough jeans and his hair was in a mess.

"No y' didn'. I didn' feel like eatin'." Remy looked at Jean, very slightly annoyed that who was _she to ask her such questions. "Is dere somet'ing y' be lookin' for chere?" He continued noticing a change in Jean's facial expression._

"I know I shouldn't be asking this question but is this what it _looks like to me?" Jean cleared her throat, her composure much better._

Remy folded his muscled arms in front of his chest and smiled, Jean could not figure out whether his smile was angry or happy. "Yeah chere, I's '_xactly what it looks like."_

Jean lowered her head a little to peer at Ororo who had stopped doing her work and was now standing in the middle of the room, her face in an expression of awe. "You mean Ororo and you are…?" Jean tried to confirm the meaning of Remy's words. "Oh never mind. I gotta go now."

"Wait what never mind? I know y' didn' come here t' check on us, did you?" Remy stopped Jean who was about to leave. Just then Ororo came up behind Remy to stop him from saying something rude, although she knew Remy _never misbehaved with anyone._

Quickly wiping off the small beads of sweat forming on her face she brushed away the hair from her face. "You're right Remy. By the way have you seen Rogue?"

"Last time I saw Rogue was wit' y'." Remy's remark was sharp and quick.

"Yeah I mean-but—did you see her at _all since morning?" Jean said as her heart started racing. The tiny incident that had just happened in the dining room where 'Professor had jerked from his place and he later told them that had heard a voice'…scared Jean more than anything._

_[Jean, we're already finished, what's taking you so long?] Scott's voice interrupted Jean's thoughts._

_[I can't come right now honey. I've got something to do. I'll be down there soon.] Jean sent him a mental reply._

"Since morning? I t'ought she was wit' you. How am _I supposed t' know where she'd be right now?" Creases appeared on Remy's forehead, he tried to take in what exactly the situation was that Jean stood in front of him tensed up and all._

"Oh. This means you didn't see her. Did you see her Ororo?" Jean moved Remy out of the way and looked at Ororo who shrugged.

"Last night we had a danger room session together and I did not see her after 8. Is there a problem Jean? Why are you so panicked?" Ororo let her concern cover her aggravation over Jean who was asking them all sorts of questions after disturbing them.

"I..I can't get a hold of Rogue. I looked for her every where. Professor said that he heard someone calling him and he believed it was Rogue." Jean raised her hands to her temple to take a fast look for Rogue but she failed again.

Remy buttoned his whole shirt and folded the sleeves up to his elbows. "Did you check in her room?"

"Yeah I did. I looked for her through my psyche but I can't find her anywhere." Jean's breath was coming in short pants now.

Looking at her confusingly that he had just Rogue about an hour ago…where could she possibly go? "Did she mention t' you about goin' somewhere…dis mornin'-anyt'ing---?"

"Remy for God's sake I looked everywhere but since Rogue told me that she would---" The words slipped out of Jean's mouth when Jean tried to release the tension somehow and now she was going to end up telling Remy that Rogue had decided to tell him something.

Remy squinted his eyes at her. "Rogue…told y' what?" He pushed her trying to get the words out of her that Jean had stopped herself from saying. It was obviously something he had to do with, Remy thought.

"I-she told me she was going to meet you..and that's why I came to check if she was with y- you." Jean looked rested her hand against her waist, the pressure and worry growing every minute.

"What?" Remy asked her, not knowing a single thing Jean mentioned to him. "What are you talkin' about?"

Sighing, Jean looked to her right and started to move away from them. "I can't tell you right now Remy, but I think we have a problem."

"But Jean wait--"Remy reached for her but Jean was already walking fast. "'Kay den I'm comin' too." Remy grabbed his cards and went after Jean.

Ororo stood there and kept her eyes over her face. _What was going on here? Her mind was a whirl right now. "I guess I'm going too." She went after Remy and Jean closing the door behind her._

_Oh my god oh my god oh my god. Jean prayed to god and hoped that everything would be okay as soon as they found out where Rogue was. But what her mind told her was that Rogue must have seen Remy and Ororo together and she must have chosen to do something about it-may be leave the mansion or something….__But Rogue would never do such a thing._

Remy walked as fast as he could beside Jean. His mind totally blank of Jean's awkward questions. He could hear Ororo coming up behind them but he decided that they shouldn't stop for any discussions right now seeing that Jean was worried about something they both didn't know.

"Would y' mind explainin' _some'ting t' me?" Remy asked loudly, his voice stern._

"Would _you stop asking me questions for once?! Because you can see very well that I'm not in the mood in explaining you things right now." Jean said as she jerked open Rogue's door. "See?! She's not in here."_

"Y' blaimin' _me 'cuz y' can' find Rogue?! What are y' so tensed up all 'bout? She might be here dere in her room. It's simple go do your head t'ing and *snap* you'll find 'er." Remy asked, more heated than Jean was._

Jean chose not to reply and she was already making plans on calling the x-men on alert in the dange-room. She stood in the middle of the room trying to think, just then Ororo entered the room.

"I's dere any way she would've gone t'rough de balcony?" Remy asked, who now stood near the balcony and was opening the door.

"I told you, _no. She had some plans--" Jean was cut off by Ororo's scream…_

"Goddess!" She stood there, her mouth open, blue eyeballs in stuck in her pupils…her hands shaking at her sides. Remy and Jean stared at her for a second, too scared to see the sight that made _Ororo scream like that._

"'Ro….what's wrong?" Remy started slowly, not moving an inch.

"Ororo answer him…come on…" Jean encouraged her to say something only to have the same sight greet her that Ororo had seen as she moved to the front of the bathroom door that was slightly opened.

"Oh-my-God." Jean closed her eyes, her body shaking.

Remy walked with lightning speed and grabbing Ororo by the arm, he moved her out of the way. His heart thumped loudly…so loudly that he felt it was going to burst. He knew something was wrong…but never expected it to be so sudden.

He quickly came in front of Jean who stood aside and raised her hand to her head sending a certain x-man a mental note. _[Beast I need you here right now. Hurry. Rogue's room.]_

_[I'll be right there Jean.] Beast said on the other line without asking for an explanation._

The red on black eyes that always had a brilliant shine in them flashed with luminous energy the moment they saw one of the most powerful and bravest mutant in the mansion sprawled on the floor with a pool of blood around her…Remy's mind was numb for a second until the words escaped out of his lips absently.

"_What happened chere?"_

**_To be continued…___**

_****_

**_A/N:__ Don't get angry with me because there's more to come! Thank you very much for reviewing._**


	5. Part V

**Disclaimer: The x-men don't belong to me, they're Marvel's property.**

**Author's Note: _Here's another chapter of Waited for so long. To tell you the truth guys, I never intended on extending the story. :) Here you go._**

****

**Waited for so long**

_by__ Samman_

**Part III**

_"What happened chere?"_

The forbidden words echoed in his own ears as Remy's heart pounded wildly in his chest. He had heard the literary term from people and in books, but right now, he could not give an explanation anyone how is knees were weakening and shaking madly at the sight of Rogue.

He himself did not know how he had kept himself from standing stable when his eyes had captured Rogue's form on the floor. Somewhere in the back of his mind where everything was not numb, he heard Jean call Beast for help.

The woman who Remy had once come to love to death now slumped on the floor, soft lips that used to be pink were half open and a shade of yellow blue-Remy could not figure that out.

Her head was twisted half against the tub and was partially titled against the floor, the blood soaked hair that Remy remembered was auburn and white was spilled across the shiny floor in such manner that if somebody would squeeze it shut, blood would drip from it like excess water flows from a towel after it's squished…

_"Dieu Dieu Dieu" Remy repeated the mantra that he had been repeating in his mind but now his senses were free and open. "Jean ask dem t' __hurry up!" _

He moved quickly and kneeled down on the floor with a loud thump. His hands reached to check her pulse, and he did…but a very very faint one…

Then keeping his hands on the floor on her either side, he closed his eyes shut and lowered his face to hers. Remy would not have ever prayed so much to God in all those years like he did right now in his mind with all his heart as he tilted his ear near her mouth to see any signs of her breathing.

Remy's heart was going to stop…he didn't feel her breath…

_No No No No__ No. He closed his eyes shut as he froze in his place but once again, he lowered his ear deeper to her lips to check for any signs although he could see by himself that she was all pale…yellow…white…and blue but he did not want to believe what his heart told him._

But then it came…the softest rush of air on his cheek and Remy's eyes widened knowing that she was there...but they were going to loose her anyway if they did not try anything soon.

Without hesitation, Remy moved quickly and kneeled down on the floor, his arm reached up to her arm that was twisted under her waist. Biting his lips, and not caring that he might break an already cracked ligament, Remy's hand slipped inside the hollow where her arm was stuck and as carefully as he could, he brought the arm out of that irregular position. 

Thankfully he was wearing gloves. The thought did not even go over in his mind that: Rogue was _invulnerable and how could she possible get hurt so badly, and like this?_

"'Ro?! I need y' help 'Ro…c'mon she's goin' to be fine- jus' listen t' me right now. I need you right now 'Ro." Remy said as he didn't know what and how to adjust Rogue's figure whose head bled intensely.

"'Remy-she's not…she's not—Remyy.." The fearless thunder-stricking Goddess who was not scared when they fought with the greatest of enemies now stood behind Remy. With her limp hand clasped over her mouth, tears flowed freely down her chocolaty cheeks as she violently shook her head. 

She did not believe Remy, she saw her teammate dead. _Dead. Rogue…__Dead._

"No 'Ro she's goin' t' be fine! She has to!" Remy looked at Rogue and slipped an already bloody hand under her fragile back. He slightly shifted her up with one hand.

Somehow Ororo realized that they could save her if there was still time and taking a step back, she turned around and jerked the towel out of the hanger. She handed it to Remy who practically snatched it from her.  "T-take this." 

After taking the towel from his free hand, Remy slid it under Rogue's head and held her unsteady, bloody hair with his hand. He picked her in his arms, and tried to adjust her quickly that her bloody head drooped against his shoulder slightly slithering down because of the instability. The towel remained on Rogue's neck and head as Remy _tried to walk out, and __tried to stop panicking._

"Where the hell are they?!" Ororo's rage busted out of her body when she yelled out the words that represented her as _Storm—__not Ororo. She had yanked off Rogue's plain white bed sheets and now stood awaiting Remy to come near her. As he did, Storm nearly wrapped the whole, long white cloth all over her as Remy lowered himself to make Ororo able to do so._

Just in time, Beast and Jean burst through the room. Hank, the mansion's doctor walked in with confidence and without asking for details when he saw Remy with a very injured Rogue in his arms, Hank parked the neatly arranged the stretcher against the wall.

"Oh my Stars and Garters…" Hanks eyes were dazed as he moved closer to Remy who was already trying to somewhat lay Rogue down on the soft stretcher that had complex medical equipment attached underneath it.

"Be careful Remy…You do not want--" Hank was harshly cut off by Remy's harsh words.

"Shud-up Hank-I'm not listening t' dat crap right now." Remy did not give Beast the chance to assist him to anything and himself lay Rogue down who was wrapped in covers that were now stained dark red.

_[Hank Please don't talk back to him right now. I know you won't.] Jean who was also startled by Remy's attitude gave Beast a mental note to him who nodded in response and was rapidly fitting the oxygen mask closely over her nose and mouth. It would provide assistant breathing._

Jean saw Ororo move up beside Remy and look at Rogue with dazed blue eyes. Jean wanted to reach out to Ororo but there was no time and it had already been almost six to seven minutes since they had first seen Rogue's lifeless form on the floor. 

Without a word, Jean ran out of the door to tell others, she preferred not to call the other x-men telepathically because they would all come running upstairs and it would cause all sorts of problems. 

"She does not have her powers. Oh dear." Hank panted as he adjusted a tight band around Rogue's forehead to stop the blood from flowing anymore. He did not turn around when he heard Cecilia Reyes come up from behind and stand around him. She pushed Remy out of the way and together they wheeled the stretcher out of the room.

"I've got the ER ready. We need to speed up Hank." Cecilia said with a worried frown appearing on her forehead.

Remy grasped Ororo's hand and squeezed it as he helplessly looked at Beast and Cecilia Reyes take Rogue out of the room in an emergency. Ororo's eyes glistened with tears and she turned her head to look at her Remy. "Go Remy, she might need you."

He had to go. Of course he did. He was just giving room to the professionals to take over the scene. "Yeah 'Ro, she needs me." Remy pulled her arm and took her fast out of the room along with him.

His steps were loud and swift in the hallway and finally Remy ran at the end point where the elevator was closing with Rogue and the doctors inside. He went inside and the elevator slid shut. Remy could barely make out one side of Rogue's face that was covered with a very bad bluish purple bruise which was also beginning to swell.

"Everyt'in' will be alright Rogue." Remy's hoarse voice sounded hollow in the elevator as he stood on her opposite side, his eyes scanned the blood all over her body, his head tilting in the process.

Cecilia Reyes was crouched down fixing some tools underneath the stretcher on which Rogue lay, while Beast untangled the IV tubes that were spread all around the wounded mutant. He thanked Remy in his mind for not being destructive as the Cajun usually was in these rare situations—or _accidents with Rogue._

Remy on the other hand, slightly touched her oxygen mask, trying to adjust the tubes going on either side of it. The silent elevator soothing him, giving him a sign that Rogue would be saved.

The yellow button that said 'Floor 1' lightened red and the elevator came to a halt. It wasn't even fully opened that the three x-men rushed Rogue into the emergency room.

****

Storm stood on the same place, on the same floor where Remy had left her. He had ran and made it through the elevator. Now Storm stood alone and rested her head against the wall, her head tilting up and eyes closed tightly. It looked like she was more depressed than afraid, and more of it was not over Rogue's accident. It was something else.

_Never mind. I'll take the stairs. Storm arched her eyes and with graceful steps, she went to the stair case and retreated down the stairs._

****

"Scott!"

The loud shriek nearly caused Scott to drop the plate but he caught it in mid air before it fell in the dirty pile of dishes. Bobby snapped his head and looked at her with wide blue eyes, Jubilee startled too.

"Jean--"

Jean cut him before he got a chance to speak and Scott held her shoulders before she got the chance to explain. "Scott—huh—something happened to Rogue oh god Something happened to her, I couldn't find her and we went to her—huh-room and we..Scott oh god--"

"Slow down Jean, what happened? What? Now…" Scott shook her with his hands on her shoulders and Jean wiped off sweat from her forehead. Bobby stopped working and came towards them. He did not forget to hold the younger mutant---Jubilee's hand readying her for whatever news they were going to receive.

"We found her body on the floor. And there was blood all over. They-they took her to the ER." Jean gulped down the water that Bobby just handed it to her.

Scott frowned, not forgetting that Rogue was invulnerable. After all, something had been going on between them that Jean had been hiding, she had been acting strange lately. But he did not care right now, they had an x-man down. "Jean. Let's go."

"Wait what about the Professor?" Bobby broke in.

"Professor already knows. He's on his way now." Jean said.

Jubilee clutched to Bobby's arm and bit her lip tightly, and Bobby reassured her by patting her shoulder. "Don't worry Jubes, we still haven't found out what happened."

Together, both of them left for the infirmary after Jean and Scott did.

****

"Would anyone mind giving me _accurate information that what exactly happened?" Scott asked, standing with his arms crossed on his chest. He looked at Remy who was sitting on the couch with his both hands' fingers entwined as he rested his elbows on his knees. Professor listened quietly, trying to take in what happened and how he was not able to detect Rogue's presence._

Remy jerked his head up at Scott's question and he looked at Jean who was sitting on the couch beside him. Ororo, who stood against the wall beside Scott, noticed Remy clenching his teeth and his jaw tightened.

The few x-men had met there in large, spacious room beside the ER and were now discussing the cause of Rogue's injury. Jean sat on the couch beside Remy with her head in her hands.

"It's better dat y' ask dat question from y' _wife." Remy glanced at Jean before looking at Ororo who shook her head to him, signaling him not to pick out any fights at that moment._

The mansion doctors, Beast and Cecilia had not let Jean in the emergency room and insisted that it would be better if she stayed outside. Jean snapped her head at Remy and scowled.

"What do you _want from me Remy?" Jean asked, her words sharp and stern._

Scott held his hands up to stop any one of them from speaking. "Waaaait a minute, I think there's more it than I so far know. Jean you need to tell me what happened because I do not have a single clue about what's going on."

Remy started shuffling his cards over and over, his attitude being noticed by every one. Jubilee and Bobby sat on the other sofa set, watching and listening to every tensed x-man in the room.

Taking a long breath before saying anything, Jean started. "Scott I _don't know what happened to Rogue, I swear to God I don't know anything except that Rogue was missing and that's when I went to check up on her. That's all I know--"_

"Dere's more t' it." Remy leaned back and never took his eyes away from his bostaff that he was shuffling with his nimble fingers.

"You're trying to say that Jean is _lying?" Scott's temper was beginning to boil, he himself was not being able to deal with Remy's accusations towards his wife._

"I'm not sayin' dat she's _lyin__', but somet'ing's missin' 'ere." Remy paused to look at Jean who arched her eyebrows defiantly at him, daring him to ask her whatever he had thought. _

"Go 'head Jean, what do y' think is de cause o' Rogue's. It definitely isn' dat someone came t'rough de bat'room window and banged 'er against de floor, last time I saw 'er I knew she was _invulnerable." It hurt him as much to say as much it hurt to think about it. _

Jean shifted her eyes to look at Professor who had been quiet the whole time, listening to the all the possibilities that might have happened. _[Tell them about her powers Jean, now is the best time. We do not know yet…if Rogue will be with us anymore…]_

_[Alright Professor.]__ Jean nodded and looked at Scott who urged her to explain them whatever she knew about._

Scott and Remy both looked at Professor, both of their eyes squinting at him, both of them suspecting him to be having knowledge about Rogue's accident that they did not know.

Ororo stood silent, her lips in a pout, and blue eyes glancing at the people in the room every once in a while. She looked at her wrist watch. 4:45. It had been almost two hours, and the doctors were not coming out. Her heart throbbed slowly in her chest whenever her eyes would drift to the disturbing sign 'Emergency Room' glowing in bright red color.

Sighing loudly, Jean nervously tugged a strand of red hair behind her hair and then she was ready to tell them the news. "I feel so sad to be the one telling you this, this was supposed to turn out good…" As her voice quivered, she paused and bit her lip.

"Remy, you remember she came to me this morning?" Jean turned her neck to her right to see Remy nodding slightly.

"Yeah, so…?" Remy said.

Jean gulped and prepared herself to face the outbursts of the x-men after they'd hear the news…especially Remy's. "She told me that she controlled her powers. She touched me Scott, with her _uncovered hand."_

Remy closed his eyes tightly the instant she said those words, his heart not being able to take so much…Remy buried his head into his hands and his fingers curled around his hair.

On the other hand, gasps were heard from every one in the room except two people, Professor and…Storm.

****

**_A/N:__ I'm sorry that it's taking longer for me to write whether Rogue is alive or not because first I had decided to let Rogue die…but the reviews somewhat are close to convince me to not let her die…but I'm confused…tell me people, what should I do? I won't forget to thank you guys for the incredible reviews that you've submitted…except it would help a little more if you tell me what to do with Rogue. Ta ta!_**


	6. Part VI

**Disclaimer: The x-men don't belong to me, they're Marvel's property.**

**Author's Note: _Oookay__...I know I know. All of you are really really mad at me. But pleeease don't be angry cuz I had so much stuff that made it difficult for me to write. First I was on vacation for two months, then when I came home I moved, and then some other big personal problem came up. I don't wish to go into detail. I just want to thank you all for still reading this fic. _****Important: I already knew what I was going to do next in the upcoming chapters, but still I asked for your opinions to check what you guys were hoping to read next. There are a lot more chapters to come, so don't get disappointed with anything that went against your expectation. Now Read! :)**

****

**Waited for so long**

_by__ Samman_

**Part VI**

_*She controlled her powers she controlled her powers she controlled her powers she controlled her powers she controlled her powers* Once again, the world collapsed around Remy after Jean enlightened him with another startling discovery about Rogue's mutation, which could only have been one thing, her control over it._

Just like for the past few hours it had been numb, Remy's mind refuse to react to the situation, he felt empty, hollow but at the same time, images of Rogue sprawled on the bathroom floor, the dark red blood, Storm's scream…All those clips repeatedly flashed in his mind. It seemed like a thousand pieces of a puzzle game had broken down and were haphazardly flowing into air with speed. Everything seemed to have stopped working in Remy's mind after Jean announced those words…_She controlled her powers._

"Remy…" Jean started but words couldn't come out of her mouth. Seeing Remy in the bizarre situation, it was becoming harder for her to speak, she didn't know how to start talking, she couldn't proceed.

A frown appeared on Professor Xavier's forehead that he rested his chin on his clasped hands. He cleared his throat and looked at a falling x-man who sat across him with his hands buried in his head.

"Remy?" Professor asked in a stern voice but no answer from him.

"Remy, I do not know what you are going through right now, but I can understand. Since no one here knows the exact cause of the situation, I believe that we will have to think through it and discuss what might have caused Rogue such…harm." Although the professor spoke in a low voice, it was unstable and it looked that he was…afraid of something. There was no doubt about him being scared of the fact for what was going to happen next, either it was with Rogue or Gambit.

The room was filled with pin drop silence even though, Bobby, Jubilee, Storm, Scott, Jean, all were present along with Remy and Professor. Taking an audible deep breath, Remy looked up and ran his hand roughly through his short auburn hair.

"Are dere any more surprises left for me? Anyt'ing else?" The sarcasm in his voice was quick and sharp. "I'm jus' makin' sure so dat I'll know beforehand. Like Scott said, dere's more dan to it den we already know." He peered at Jean.

Jean arched her eyebrows and licked her lips before speaking. "Remy, you need to listen t--"

"Listen?! What _is dere t' listen?!" He threw his hands up in the air. "Dere's nothin' t' talk 'bout 'cept dat Rogue's life is hangin' in mid air an' nobody knows dat if she's gonna be able to live anot'er second or not!" His voice roared in the silenced room. Panicked glances were exchanged among the x-men who were all scattered around the room._

"Calm down Remy." This time, Professor _ordered Remy to stop what he was doing._

Remy's head sharply snapped in the direction where the Professor hovered in his wheelchair. His red on black eyes met with the Professor's brown ones. "I can't believe dat y' can possibly ask me t' calm down in dis situation Prof." Minutes were passing and tolerance was getting out of Remy's limits.

Scott stood with his back against the opposite wall. His body remained still and his eyes scanned everyone in the room. Storm stood quietly beside him with her hands folded in front of her. Jubilee leaned on Bobby who was unbelievingly quiet. When it came to Rogue, Bobby was not the one to sit and listen quietly, Scott thought. The dreadful and tragic accident had scared Bobby more than anything.

Professor took a deep breath. "Yelling and panicking will not solve your problem though." He looked down in his lap.

Remy didn't care and cursed obscenities to the Professor in his mind knowing that the Professor would be hearing them all. Sighing frustratingly, he pressed his lips tightly and ignored the Professor. "'kay." 

"Rogue _controlled her powers? Or __lost dem? Y' might wanna be a bit more clear Jean so dat we'd fully understand what caused 'er t' get hurt so badly." His voice was criticizing, cold and bitter._

"She _controlled them." Jean said through gritted teeth as she looked firmly at Remy._

Before Remy could speak, Scott broke in. "I knew something was wrong Jean. I knew it." Slight traces of a scowl appeared on his forehead. Scott looked at Jean showing no signs of sympathy for her because of his care and concern of the falling team-mate and friend.

"_Scott? What do you mean by that? Are you accusing me of something?" Jean asked defensively._

"I'm _not accusing you of anything. I'm just mentioning you about your strange behavior this morning. When were you planning to tell us this?" Scott asked._

"What do you mean by _I was planning to tell you this? Rogue is the one who controlled her powers and she was supposed to tell you this." She shut her mouth and looked in Storm's direction who stood extremely quiet the whole time period. "And it was supposed to be a sur-umm..surprise." Now that she had said the word, she regretted it. But she had to say it in front of Remy anyway to find out the truth._

Remy's ears perked up and his eyes shot at her. "_Surprise?" He snickered. "What kind of surprise is dat? She told you an' it was supposed t' be a __surprise?"_

Jean looked down in her lap and squint her eyes. She was getting sick of this. Tears escaped from the corner of her eyes and she wiped them away quickly before she'd create a scene. 

"Rogue told me because she wanted to resolve matters with y--you first. She was so excited to tell you the news…but considering that you guys didn't have a stable relationship after the whole Antarctica deal, Rogue thought it would better if she told you afterwards and first made amends."

"She said that whoever she saw first except you, she'd tell them about controlling her powers and so she did. Right after Rogue told me the news, she said she was going to see you." Jean's voice was loud in the room and she found herself getting nervous so she paused to take a breath.

"She…she was going to come to talk to you in the afternoon…but things didn't turn out as they were supposed to…" Jean grabbed a tissue paper from the side table of the couch to wipe away the tears from her flushed face.

"Goddess." Storm whispered as she clasped a hand over her mouth. She didn't know whether it was because of the fact that things went worse with Rogue or if it was that she was thinking of regaining her relationship with Remy..._Oh goddess…Rogue didn't know Remy and I are…Storm thought how selfish she was being. But what was reality? Was she and Remy in love? Or maybe there wasn't even anything between them __at all? __This is becoming worse than I thought. _

Meanwhile, Bobby looked at Ororo doubtfully at the corner of his eye.

"Dieu.." Remy's heart throbbed wildly in his chest. He took shaking deep breath. Rogue was going to come and see him… because…she had controlled her powers…? And what had he been doing? Making out with Ororo? All these questions came to his mind, but now was not the time to think about relationships, what was necessary right now was Rogue's health.

"But why—why didn' she come up t' me…?" Remy asked knowing that he was in his room with Ororo when Rogue must have come up to break the news to him. And the only reason…she wouldn't have come to him would be because…Rogue…must have _seen him with Ororo? __Oh no, oh no, dat can' be possible…_

"I don't know, _you tell me." Jean said folding her hands across her chest and glancing at Ororo once in a while. Instead, Ororo looked at Jean quietly._

"So I take it dat Professor knew 'bout dis too? 'Bout Rogue controlling her powers an' all?" Remy said ignoring Jean's question and answer at the same time. 

"Obviously Remy." Storm who had been quiet all the time, spoke up. She said in a tone that seemed quite unfriendly. May be it was the depression and stress that was taking over her.

All eyes shot up to her. Remy glanced at her and bowed his head down. "Don' need to get all riled up 'bout it 'Ro." He said slowly. "I know y' worried as much as I am."

_Yeah right…Jean said sarcastically in her mind. But then it came to her, she felt a rush of guiltiness flow throw her. Things were so confusing but if Jean did not tell the x-men what she was going to tell them, she would not be able to forgive herself for the big mistake she would do. And Jean promised that she would reveal the big secret either to Professor or someone else who would take the situation single handedly. But right now there were more important things to take care of… _

Ororo licked her lips and nodded slightly to Remy. Her voice was not as steady as it used to be in usual circumstances. Obviously, a member of the team was down and the team was under constant pressure since afternoon. Still, there was a possibility of something else going on in Ororo's world considering her current state that the others did not take notice of…except _some of them._

"I am _not getting mad at you Remy, I was just telling you that of course Professor would know about Rogue's control over her powers because he is the one who has been helping her with powers for a long time, how wouldn't he know?" Ororo said and walked over to Remy, she rested herself on the arm rest of the couch where he was sitting._

"So _you need to calm yourself down. We __all are worried about Rogue, it's going to be alright." Ororo massaged Remy's shoulder blade slightly, a small gesture of comfort._

Remy looked up at her and gazed at her. The action caused Ororo to back up a little bit. "Why are you indirectly sayin' dat I'm blamin' de professor?"

_"Remyyy…I __did not…" Ororo retreated but was cut off by Scott._

"Guys, guys, let's not start blaming everyone else. Storm, I don't think sticking up for Professor is necessary right now because as I said before no one is blaming anyone for what happened to Rogue. And Gambit…you uhh..I don't know what to say." A very aggravated x-men leader looked towards Professor who shook his head, feeling responsible for the misbehavior his x-men were showing such a difficult time. The problem was, he could not blame anyone.

_Stickin__' up for de Prof eh? Remy thought in his mind thinking how stupid certain x-men were acting._

"X-men, why don't we narrow our problem down to the main point? How did Rogue get hurt? I do not have a clue, and I believe I will not be able to get one until we know about her current health state. As far as I know, Rogue had complete control over her powers and there was not a hint that she would loose them."

"She okay dere Drake?" Remy asked who had been looking at Jubilee trying desperately not to cry as Bobby held her. Being the youngest one in the mansion, she was a little soft at heart, and at situations like these, she was affected a lot by it.

Bobby tightly held Jubilee's hand as she fought back tears. She gulped over and over to not let a hiccup escape her lips. She had known Rogue for a long time now. Rogue was the one who used to take her for shopping; she was the one who played basket ball with her when no one was around, Rogue was the one who Jubilee always went to after being yelled at by Scott…All these years she had come to know the southern spitfire, Jubilee couldn't imagine life in the x-mansion without Rogue…but as unbelievable as it was, it was slowly making its way to reality.

"Yeah I'm—I'm fine." Jubilee said wiping of the tears that were about to flow from her pretty, deep black eyes. However Bobby gazed at one spot on the floor. He kept his position still, like a statue. 

Sighing deeply, he glanced at everyone in the room. "It's just so scary and amazing at the same time that no one got to know about it. Not a single person even had an instinct to go up to her room and check what she was doing. Maybe, _maybe I woulda gone up to her room cuz I usually do, but I was in the kitchen this time." Bobby gave a sympathetic smile as he continued to speak in a low raspy voice._

"I wish somebody was up there, Remy, Scott, Ororo...anyone but I guess it had to happen." Another short period of silence flowed through the room. He patted Jubilee on arm trying to reassure her that everything would be alright.

"I was downstairs and I didn't have a clue." Scott replied rubbing his eyes by reaching under his ruby lenses.

Jean looked at Ororo and back at Bobby. "Ororo and Remy were _busy… actually." Jean's anger started to rise. Just because she knew about Rogue's control, why did everyone in the mansion think that she knew about the accident too? It made her angrier than she already was at Ororo for not letting anyone know her and Remy's big secret._

It was enough and Ororo could not take it anymore, she gave Jean an irritating, questioning look. "And what do you mean by _that?"_

Remy ignored Jean and thought about dealing with it later. Scott with the Professor beside him, Jubilee and Bobby cuddled up together, All of the x-men just sat there and watched the complicated game.

"I mean exactly what you think I mean by that. I'm sorry but I think you're not concerned about Rogue's health only, but also worried about _some other things too__." A straight-forward reply was thrown back at Ororo by Jean._

"Ladies ladies.." Scott and the Professor started but Jean held up a hand to stop them.

"_Scott, it's not about what you think it's about, so try and listen to me for a second." Jean said._

Ororo held up her hands to her forehead and got up from her position to look at Jean properly who sat on Remy's other side. "Jean, what you have to tell to the people here is not one of the most important things in the world right now."

"To some people it may be." Replied Jean.

Remy looked up at Ororo, and took her hand in his. "Don' worry 'Ro--"

"Why _not?!__ Why shouldn't I worry when Jean constantly keeps on accusing me of some top secrets I don't even know exist!" Ororo threw up her hands with her eyes wide and voice loud as she yelled._

Jean tilted her head and gave a visibly fake smile. "Oh so may be it was _me who was standing outside the door of Professor's study when Rogue learnt control over her powers and said that she would tell everyone? Don't forget that I'm a telepath and I can read your minds very easily."_

"I'm sorry to interrupt the discussion but I have something to tell you about the patient's--condition." Dr. Cecilia Reyes announced as she came through the sliding doors of the room. No one got a chance to react to the astonishing discovery Jean had made and Remy, Jubilee, Scott, Bobby and Jean walked out fast and followed Beast. Their heavy and rapid footsteps against the shiny tiled floor could be heard from far away.

As Bobby got up, he made his way up to Ororo who was preparing to leave. "I never expected that from _you Ororo." He lowered his hand down to rub his stubble chin._

Ororo kept her water bottle down at the table and peered at him. "Bobby, first of all, I was not eavesdropping just to get the updates about Rogue's powers, I was never interested in them. Even if I was, you have no right to interfere because you have no idea of what's going on." She said frankly as she tightened the top of her bottle.

Surprised, Bobby looked at her awkwardly. "Oh yes I do know what's going on. You _did eavesdrop on Rogue and you knew that she controlled her powers. But, you were scared. Scared as hell that now Rogue would go back to Remy and steal him from you, even though there was no sexual relationship between you two…I don't know about now though--*SNAP!*"_

Bobby's face swung to his right side when Ororo's slim hand met his cheek with a tight force as she slapped him. Her breathing became heavy and her head hung. A reddish mark was already appearing on Bobby's clear skin.

Keeping a hand to his jaw, Bobby looked back at her with his teeth gritted but he calmed himself in a second to show Ororo that it did not affect him at all. "You know what, truth always tastes bitter." He took some steps back with his front facing Ororo and turned swiftly to go out of the room.

Now that he was gone, Ororo regretted what she had done…

****

The doors slid in and Dr. Hank McCoy, the mansion's doctor, also known as Beast came out of the room while Cecilia Reyes said something to him—which was barely audible. They nodded and Cecilia Reyes went into the room. The x-men waited out with anticipated looks on their faces, their breath caught in their throats to find out about something they were very scared of.

Remy, Jubilee, Bobby, Scott and Jean stood all together, but spaced out evenly, ready to burst into the room where Rogue remained. However, unfortunately the room was dark except a few dim lights that were on. Also, the blinds in the examination window were drawn off so that no one could see anything. It was an edgy sight.

Ororo came running and stopped short beside everyone. Her eyes were red and eyelashes wet. Ororo's blue eyes looked like they had been rubbed tightly-or in other words, it seemed like she had been crying.

Professor, who hovered in his chair moved to the front, and stopped beside Beast to hear about the results. "Well? How did it go?" He said.

Beast took a deep breath and took off his thick, black framed spectacles. He rubbed his eyes for a minute and looked up to see everyone's faces covered with worried looks. "You'll be glad to hear that Rogue's living—for now."

Sighs of relief broke, Bobby shouted out with happiness and clutched Jubilee to him, even a small smile appeared on the corner of Scott's lips. They calmed down the moment Beast announced it. 

Something about the way Beast had said it did not look right to Remy, Jean and Scott. They were still waiting to hear the next part. Beast was looking down, but still he had let them cheered, they had not concentrated on the last part which was 'for now'.

"Wait, you might want to hear something more important before I ruin this moment—I do not even know if Rogue's living is a good news or not…" Beast said. He looked at them as if he were apologizing, as if everything that happened to Rogue was _his fault, as if saving Rogue was in __his hands only—not God's._

"Rogue is in a critical, unstable condition because her brain was damaged tremendously from the injury on the head—which we confidently believe she got from falling to the bathroom floor-just like any other person would fall and get hurt. Since the injury was severe, Rogue suffered from a brain hemorrhage. It—it can be harmful because it has can cause…mental illness or paralysis-I do not know which is worse." His words came out of his mouth smoothly but slowly, making everyone tense by every second of it.

Beast paused to see the following x-men's reactions. It was hard for him to do this as Rogue was a team-mate and a friend. It took a lot of courage and pain but it was his job and he had to do it. The x-men just stared at him unbelievingly.

Professor kept his hand slightly over his eyes for a second. Taking the hand away, he looked back up at Beast. "When do you think she will wake up?"

"I am sorry I don't. When will she wake up, how long will it take to recover, a day or two, a month, six months, year, _never..we can't say anything right now." Beast replied. __Deep down Beast felt terrible for saying 'sorry' at everything they asked about Rogue, he felt as if his saying 'I'm sorry' at every minute was no big deal to him._

"Don't say dat!" Remy burst in but Ororo held back his hand.

_[Let him go Ororo, we do not want to take any chances with any x-man at this crucial point. You know how aggressively they can react at situations like these.] Ororo got the message from Professor and she instantly let go of Remy's hand—which he had not yanked away as he must have done under different circumstances._

"We are all worried Remy-I cannot think of anything to say to you people except to pray to God that Rogue recovers soon."_ Beast turned to Professor Xavier. "As of right now, Dr. Cecilia Reyes has gone to call Professor Donovan McFarland-the mutant psychiatrist to ask him for some assistance regarding Rogue's mental ability. I believe it was necessary to do since you will be treating Rogue mainly with the functioning of her powers. Excuse me please."_

With that, Beast left into the infirmary; a second later the doors slid open with Hank McCoy and Cecilia Reyes coming out of the room with Rogue in a stretcher. The x-men made room for them, some of them crying with surprise and some of them gasping out loud. 

"Cyclops, we'll need you, come with us." Scott kept a hand on Jean's shoulders and moved over to Rogue's side at Professor's order. Seeing his most powerful in this condition, his eyes closed automatically and he looked at Jean sympathetically.

As they turned to the opposite side of the hall, everyone got a slight view of Rogue's form but Beast and Cecilia moved fast towards the end of the hall. "We are transferring her to the ICU Professor. You people will be allowed to see her after three hours, so please.." Cecilia said to Professor who signaled the x-men to remain in their places by bringing his hand up.

The x-men remained stunned and petrified in their places. It was obvious that every single one of them had controlled on to his or her actions as they took her away. Although, Remy whose temper was going fiercer by the minute, turned on his heals and was prepared to take off after them. Beast and Cecilia were half way through the hall.

"What de hell is wrong wit' you Professor?! You actually have de nerve to let 'em take Rogue 'way from us when she's breat'ing de last minutes o' her life?! What de f**k y' t'ink we were here for huh?!" Remy banged his fist against the wall and yelled some more obscenities at the departing x-men.

"Remy-stop! For goodness' sake, please stop it!" Ororo cried as she moved in front of him with Bobby following her. Jean stood with Jubilee and watched them. She was amazed at herself for not using her powers to stop Remy. This time, she put herself in Remy's shoes and thought how she would have reacted if it came to Scott.

Bobby held on Remy's arm and stared at him. "_Please Gambit." _

Although Remy had already dropped dead in his tracks, he finally stopped yelling without much trouble. Seeing his team-mate's actions and pathetic condition, Bobby took his hand away. He was not in the mood for a fight right now, especially a physical one.

Ororo intensely looked into Remy's eyes and bringing her hand at his back, she pressed him against her who willingly did so. Bobby backed up and went to Jean who stood against the wall with a hand over her eyes. She sobbed quietly and this time, Jubilee was at her side.

For now, there was nothing else to be done so Bobby too leaned against the wall and hoped for the best. _It's__ gonna be alright Rogue._

**_To be Continued…_**

_****_

**_A/N: __I hope it didn't get too depressing and boring, but I had to make it like that so you'd clearly understand—the next chapter wil cover some of the issues that you've all been waiting for including how Rogue lost her powers, so keep on reading! Please Review. You don't know how much it means to me when you guys leave comments whether they're good or bad. I'm having so much fun writing this fic. Why wouldn't I? When the readers are interested, how would I not love writing these fics? Well Stick around to ff.net soon cuz my other fics are going to be updated too! Once again, thanks to all for reading and reviewing!_**


	7. Part VII

**Disclaimer:** The x-men don't belong to me, they're Marvel's property.

**Author's Note:** _Thanks for the comments you've given on the story. Oh and I'm sorry if I didn't come up to your expectations by making this a "days of our lives" kind of story as some of my reviewers complained. But I can't change the plot now, can I? So on with the fic! ^_^_

**_Once again, Many THANKS to ALL MY READERS AND REVIEWERS!_**

****

**Waited for so long**

_by__ Samman_

**Part VII**

_"Remy Ah…came t' talk t' you…'bout somethin'." _

_"'Make it quick I 'ave to be somewhere…"_

_"Ah wan'ed to talk to 'bout Antaractica…"_

_"Heh..Is dere any'ting left t' talk 'bout Antaractica?"_

_"Remy..it's not that..you've got it all wrong, that wasn' meh, there, Ah had absorbed you."_

_"'kay, so what you're tryin' to say is that it wasn't you who left me to **die**? Den who was it? Me?"_

_"No..well yeah. 'cuz you were in my head and your thoughts made me leave ya there…I had never intended to do so…Ah loved you…"_

_"Ha ha. You're funny Rogue. __What an excuse for leavin' a person to die, to freeze to death up North, an' when he comes back you come an' tell 'im dat it was all 'cuz of him?"_

_"But y' have to understand Remy..Ah…"_

_"Now now don' cry Rogue. Yer probably t'inkin' dat you're gonna cry dose tears infront o' me and I'm gonna start feelin' sorry f' you, and den we'll hug and makeup? I don' t'ink so."_

_"Remy? How could y' be so…Gawd..Ah should known…heck Ah knew it, that all of that was a game, it was nothin'. You didn' love me, foh the same reason every othah person wouldn' love me. You weren' any different. Y' played a game with m--"_

_"Game?__ You were de one playin' dis game wit' me. I am sick an' tired of dis, we fight an' den makeup, we fight an' den makeup. An' you've got de best excuse in dis freakin' world: dat you' can' touch."_

_"Ah was not here to "make up". Ah asked for forgiveness. But y' know what, Ah don' care anymore."_

_"Like y' ever did."_

_"Wow…Remy **this** is what Ah get. Ah forgave you for what you did."_

_"I'm sorry dat I ever asked f' it. But I don' need to be judged. It was my own sin, you're not goin' to hell for it."_

_"I don' give a damn anymore."_

_"Nobody does..'cept for Storm."_

_"You have no idea of what people can be like. You are just so gullible."_

_"Stop posin' anythin' on Ororo."_

_"Ah'm **not** posin' anythi'n on Ororo. Don' get all aggressive on' meh."_

_"Y' know what, dere's no point arguing, cuz it's** over**."_

_"Yoah sayin' it lakh we ever had anythin' between us!"_

_"Stop yellin'! I can' raise m' voice **too Rogue. Y'know what? Y'just killin' me here, just—just..just get the hell outta m' sight."**_

Remy remembered turning his back to her and thrusting his hands into his hair as his head hurt with frustration. He had waited for another rude remark, or maybe even a punch or any other kind of physical assault. But at that time, he didn't care.

_Nothing.___

As he was about to leave, he had waited for a response. But nothing came, Remy remembered. 

_Nothing.___

He had turned around, and glanced at her with anger. Her green eyes shone with tears as she clasped her gloved hand over her lips that quivered like that of a little girl's.

_"Stop sheddin' dose precious crocodile tears Rogue, save 'em for someone else—for anot'er dumb ass like me who'd' fall f' your stupid games."_

_"Huh…Oh mah God, Remy…" _Was all that Rogue had been able to mutter as she stumbled back and ran to the opposite side towards the women's dormitory.

He had stayed there, leaned one hand on the wall and bent his head with pain and anger.

Remy recalled the whole scene now. The fight that was now going to turn into their very last one. As a matter of fact, Remy had meant for that fight to be their last fight, not their last conversation. However, weren't his last words meant to be their last conversation as he had declared to be a fool to fall for her games? But weren't his ear and mind numb from all the fights, accusations, all sorts of trials and judgments that would enable him to think before he said anything? Remy questioned himself. But it didn't matter.

It didn't matter anymore.

Thinking about the fight right now hurt Remy enough to burn his soul inside. It felt as if he had left his charged cards in his own heart to explode. 

2:00 A.M shone in neon blue on the elegant night stand. Remy sat on the bed, with his feet planted firmly near the foot of the bed, with his hands clasped together, with his head bent, and red on black eyes closed-just like her emerald green ones had shut.

****

Hank studied the level of clear fluid in the injection and attached a fresh needle to it. He glanced towards the other resident Doctor of the mansion, Dr. Cecilia Reyes who stood by Rogue's side. Slowly and professionally, she took her unconscious patient's hand in her gloved one let it drop slowly to a small pad that she had kept on the patients' bed.

A deep frown cascaded her forehead and a solemn expression covered Dr. Reyes face once again as she repeat the action but the almost white hand remained motionless, and moved limply and freely like a string when it was moved by the Doctors.

Hank turned towards his table and continued preparing other injections that were needed. "Ahem. I believe that it would be better that you took some rest. You have been here for the past few hours continuously." He moved towards the patient and handed the doctor some soft cotton and an antiseptic bottle.

"So have _you_." Cecilia Reyes accepted the materials and wet the cotton with the antiseptic given to her. "Besides, Rogue needs our full attention at this point. We can always rest afterwards, but we must do what's important right now, at this moment." She looked at Rogue's face that was lightly lit by the different kinds of short and large lights above her head.

Hank reached a light and extended it by pulling on the rod and focusing at a certain spot. "I don't see a reason to disagree with your opinion Cecilia." He gave her a faint smile.

"I knew you would say that. What is your expert opinion about Rogue's recovery Hank?" Cecilia asked quietly. She rubbed the cotton on her forearm.

Hank raised the injection and inserted the needle in the firm flesh of Rogue's arm. He remembered how despite her vulnerability, Rogue used to get scared of shots. "Well right now as we've put her on life support system, I truly cannot say anything."

****

Another stroke of hair brush ran in the sleek, wet red hair. And another. Jean sat in front of her dresser bushing her wet hair as her green eyes stared in the mirror. She had been sitting here since she had gotten out of the shower. She tugged a wet strand behind her ear softly, kept brushing and staring at her reflection in the mirror.

"Jean?"

Scott took a deep breath and glanced at his feet. "Jean?"

Surprised, Jean looked at her left, where her husband stood. "Oh… Scott. I didn't notice you were here."

Running a hand around his face, Scott began shoved his hands into his pockets. "I…look..Jean I know you shut me out but I want to clear some things out."

"Scott. I'm not in the mood to discuss anything right now." Jean replied firmly while setting the brush on the table with a loud thump.

Scott said on the bed and looked at her reflection in the mirror as she started back at him from it. "You're probably not talking to me because I doubted you from keeping a secret for us despite the fact that Rogue was the one who wanted you to keep it private. I.."

"This is NOT about me and you. Why can't you understand?! It's Rogue I'm worried about. We can always talk later." Jean stood up and moved around the bed to sit at her spot.

Her husband but his lip and changed his shirt. "I'm sorry." He said again.

And this time Jean hugged him until to have more tears run down her cheeks as an uncontrollable sob escaped her lips.

"Shh." He soothed her.

"I'm scared. I'm…so very scared Scott." Jean withdrew from him and wiped a tear. 

"I know Jean, I know, I am too." Scott touched her hair and caressed her cheek. "Just get some sleep and then we leave for the sickbay in a while. K?

****

_They all exclaimed, yelled, and sang the birthday song as Remy butchered the cake and in a minute got indulged in throwing it around the room. The music blasted in the main lounge of the mansion on Remy's birthday that was celebrated at 12 at night. He was given a surprise and much to his likeness, the surprise was arranged by the other southerner of the team, Rogue._

_She looked adorable that night, he remembered. Dressed in beige colored high waters and cotton red top that stuck to her torso, Remy couldn't resist looking her way over and over as she threw her head back and laughed merrily during the party. _

_At the end of the party, when they all went to bed after doing their Job, Rogue was cleaning the kitchen—the job that was assigned to her. Remy sneaked behind her and snaked an arm around her slim waist as she wiped the countertop clean._

_"Eeep!"__ She jumped and turned around. Having him so close to her, she quickly pushed him backwards playfully with her hand went to put the glasses on the cabinet. "What are ya'll doin' this late dressed up in combat sugah?" She said while putting the items back in their places._

_"Danger room session, Cyke's spenin' some quality time wit' his wife while Bobby, Logan and I are supposed to be practicin' at __midnight__. We're off de mornin' sessions, remember chere?" Once again, Remy found himself gradually advancing towards his target that he always caught and missed._

_"Oh..gotcha..Ah think Ah should be leavin' now, its pretty late." Rogue moved around the counter._

_Remy grabbed her wrist and shoved her back towards his chest as she started to leave. "Now were d' y' think you're goin' chere?" She seemed to be in an incredibly good mood tonight, he had noticed. "Y' not gonna let Cajun t'ank his girl f' what she did f' him t'night, eh chere?" _

_"Ah…accept your appreciation and much gratitude towards mah work Mr. Lebeue, now may Ah leave?" She said teasingly as she touched the front of his soft auburn strands that fell on his handsome face._

_"I don' t'ink so chere."__ He said as he wrapped both of his arms around her waist and leaned against the counter, breathing audibly in her soft musk perfume as he did so. "Y' never gave Gambit his gift."_

_"So what do ya want me ta do?" She said twirling an auburn strand in her covered index finger._

_"A nice, long kiss'll do, not'in' much chere." Remy said lowering his face towards her._

_Rogue smiled flirtingly. "That won' be a problem…sugah. Hold up though." She reached in her pocket and fished for something, and stared into his eyes as she did so. When she was done, she brought a small box and opened it herself. In the box, was a fine, shinning, copper chain that she took in her delicate fingers._

_Remy watched her quietly as she wrapped her arms around him hugging him all the while and clasping the chain around his neck. "What's all dis for?" He asked her caressing her slender waste and back and touched the chain with the other. He moved his lips closer but she parted before anything happened. _

_"Nothin' much, jus' a birthday gift, that ah thought would remind y' of meh." Rogue paused and ran a tongue over her luscious lips that he longed to touch so much. "An' that…no mattuh how many fights we have, Ah'll always have a special place f' you in mah heart." Rogue stepped back and kissed his cheek, obviously covered by his poker mask._

_Before he could grab her, she was already on her way out. "An' that was a bonus." She glanced at him over her shoulder as she said so. _

_Damn. Remy grinned at her and blew her a kiss with his index and middle finger. _

***End Flashback***

Instead of taking a nap during the extra hour that was given to them, Remy stayed awake and pondered over memories that plagued his mind right now.

He stood with his hands stuck to the examination window and watched her lay dead-asleep against the high pillows. The mansion doctors, Hank McCoy and Cecelia Reyes had operated on her and let him watch her through the examination window.

It had been ten minutes now, and Gambit stood there, his hands against the glass and his eyes on Rogue, staring at the IVs and tubes that were attached to her. It made him…sick. In his entire life, never would have Gambit thought that something like this could happen to the Rogue, the brave heart of the mansion, the invulnerable one.

Gambit shook his head and looked down at his feet in dismay and apprehension. _Can' believe it, chere. De doc says you be in a coma cuz of de brain hemorrhage caused by de fall, but how didj' get hurt? Y' weren' invulnerable…or more so, y' weren' even clumsy.. _A bitter smile appeared on Gambit's lips. _May be it was cuz of de excitement, eh? Dat y' controlled y' powers…_

A warm hand on his shoulder interrupted his thoughts and Gambit turned his head to look at the intruder. "'Ro? What are y' doin' dis late?"

"I..came to check up on her…and you." Ororo looked into his eyes and brought her hand down from his shoulder. Her sleek wet hair explained that she had taken a shower for relaxation and relief from the days' events. "How is she doing? Hank said anything?"

Remy broke from his trance and glanced at her. "Wha'..? Oh I'm doin' great, just great." He clenched his jaw. "An' her…Don't know. Prof said Rogue controlled 'er powers a while ago an' allowed her to break de news t' us today but she actually los' her powers an' after dat, she slipped in de bat'room which caused her de injury. It's cuz of dis." Remy pointed his thumb towards his head. "Her brain malfunctioned and it had an effect on 'er powers, causin' dem to turn off completely. Which means dat she'll still be able t' control her absorption powers…if and only she ever wakes up."

Ororo's heart skipped a beat and she shut her eyes completely before taking one deep breath. "I..see." 

She tugged a sleek, white strand behind her ear. Her blue eyes stared at his face. "Remy..I…uh..I do not even know where to start."

With a sigh, Remy turned to her and let his blazing red eyes settle on her. "What d' y' wan' t' talk 'bout?"

"About what happened today…in the waiting room." Ororo looked up and ran her tongue over her lips, this was getting way too frustrating for her. "You want to talk?" She grabbed his unshaved chin and turned it towards her as he started to look in the mirror again.

"Why didn't y' tell m' about it?" Remy questioned slowly, staring at the figure in the room.

"About Rogue's powers?" Ororo looked down. "Because she never wanted to tell about it to anyone until she confirmed with the professor."

He turned to look at her simply. "Den why did y' eavesdrop on 'er?"

"Remy why are you interrogating me? It seems to me as if I am the one responsible for this hectic." Ororo looked at him sharply.

"Never said y' were. But dis is what y' wanted to talk 'bout, didn' you Ro?" Remy said.

"I---I don't know what's going on with me Remy…I don't know why I heard Rogue's conversation with the Professor…I don't know why I kept snapping at Jean in the waiting room…I don't know why I laid a hand on Bobby." Ororo frustrating threw her hands up and tears welled up in her bright blue eyes that never once had a tear in them, even in the toughest of their times.

Remy remained quiet and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I do not even know why I ever got in a relationship with you." Ororo said inaudibly with a sigh and dropped her arms to her side.

Clenching his jaw, Remy turned to her and grabbing her shoulders, he shook her lightly. "Den what's dis all about? Why did y' come up to me? Why?" He released her and ran his hand roughly through his hair. "Why did y' hear Rogue's conversation wit' de Prof?"

"Why are you so concerned about me hearing Rogue's conversation?" Ororo asked referring to his last question.

Remy remained silent.

Ororo's lower lip quivered and she controlled herself as soon as the thought of crying and breaking down in front of Remy came to her mind. This was beyond her beliefs, beyond her values and morals of her life that she had fought to achieve all her life. _I did it because--I was afraid that--afraid of the fact that you were going to turn back to Rogue once you found out about her powers._

Both of them remained silent, fearing to reveal to each other the fact, which they both knew would be true. 

Ororo quietly escaped out of his presence leaving her new lover to mourn, and so that she could get some time to think, to bewail for not one person she could loose, but for another whom she had begun to love so much.

*****

"What happened to _you_?" Jubilee said trying to humor her partner who had been sitting in the conference room with her for so long. She cleared her throat again. "Last time I checked, you were the one consoling everyone."

Bobby looked at the screen as he typed some information up. He picked up his water bottle to take a sip, a mere excuse that he had been using to avoid talking to her.

"Tell me. What's up?" Jubilee said nudging him. "Something happened. I can bet."

Bobby kept the water bottle with a loud thump on the table and looked at the screen, displaying expensive information to him. "Yeah, Apparently, Rogue—who happens to be my best friend, controlled her powers, lost them, and then to top it all off, she fell in the bathroom, got a brain hemorrhage, is in a coma right now, and the doctors have no idea if she'll ever wake up—"

"Enough with the sarcasm popsicle, tell me what happened." Jubilee cut in sharply. "I know something's botherin' you."

Bobby turned to glare at her. "I _wasn't_ done with my story."

"Then spill it to me already," Jubilee said.

"I got one hell of a slap from..Storm." Bobby said wiping the excess water on his wet mouth.

Jubilee straightened in her chair. "Wha?"

"Yup, she slapped me, _wham—right after you guys left." Bobby shook his head disappointingly._

"Wow. I'm not surprised though." Jubilee said, rolling her eyes. "Care to explain me the cause hon?"

"Yeah I kinda said some stuff I shouldn't have." Bobby said sitting in the chair beside Jubilee's. "I said somethin' about her being with Remy."

Jubilee clasped a hand over her mouth surprisingly as she looked at her friend with wide, black eyes. She let the news sink in before she started. "Oh my God, that's what I thought! It came to my mind but I never really said anything considering the situation we were in. No wonder Ororo was acting so differently, all cranky and stuff."

Bobby nodded and shook his disbelievingly. "I couldn't believe it either…I--" He was cut off in mid sentence when the phone rang loudly in the large room.

"I'll get that," With that, Bobby quickly went to receive the phone. "Xavier Institute." He let his blue eyes stare at Jubilee looking at the data on the screen, as he listened to the speaker.

"Okay. Yeah, so you know about the emergency that we had today." Bobby nodded with a pained expression on his face. He ran a hand over his face out of frustration and headache. "Gotcha. What time?" He quickly scribbled some information on the notepad placed on the small table that held the phone set.

"Who was it?" Jubilee said without looking at him.

"Logan."

"What? Oh my god, he's comin' back?" The younger girl got up from her chair and held Bobby's shoulders. "I thought he was on a mission. Professor musta told him, right?"

"Yup, he's comin'. And early in the morning." Bobby nodded. "And something tells me that things are about to get pretty ugly…"

****

**_To be Continued…._**

****

A/N: This is it. Stick around in a while and there'll be some action packed stuff. And I PROMISE, I'll update soon. :) I don't write for feedback, I write for you guys but Thanks again for reviewing! Later,

**Samman**__


	8. Part VIII

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the x-men; they are the property of Marvel and are being used without permission. So please don't' sue me!

**Author's Notes**: You guys have NO Idea of how much your reviews have helped me to write. It's so much fun to write…whether it's going to turn into Rogue/Remy or Ororo/Remy. So hold tight and see what happens!

Oh to clear out the confusion in case, Logan was on a mission that I must have forgotten to mention. I apologize for any confusion I may have caused in doing so! Now on with the fic.

****

**Waited for so long**

by _Samman_

**Part VIII**

"Spill out it Cajun. Jus' _what the hell did you say to her?!" Logan slammed Remy into the kitchen table knocking the tables and chairs into all directions._

"Get y' filthy paws _off_ me Logan." Gambit got up and produced a good bundle of cards from his coat. He swiftly shuffled each card one by one. The intense heat in the embers of his eyes was not a good sign, especially when it was against an equally angry and aggressive Logan.

Logan popped three sharp blades from each hand that he clacked against one and other as he took a step near the Cajun. "Sorry bub, can't help it, when it comes to _'Ro."_

"Wolverine, Gambit! You need to stop right there before I make you." Jean's voice roared through the kitchen as she came in between us.

Gambit looked at Jean and then at Logan. "Let 'im do whatever the hell he wants to."

"I'm not lettin' that Cajun hurt 'Ro again. Fer how long are y' guys gonna let him hurt everyone? I say, no more chances for this one." Logan lunged forward but Jean came between him.

"Logan, NO. Please..hear me out, will you?" Jean pleaded him with her eyes and there was no way it wouldn't have worked on Logan. She knew him. She had always been the one to control Logan. He looked at her and took a step back.

Jean grabbed his broad shoulders and let her soothing voice calm him. "There's already too much havoc created, our sole purpose right now should be take care of Rogue. Besides its not Gambits fault, its nobody's fault. We're the x-men, why do we go blaming others for any mishaps that come our way? They're bound to happen, we're not humans Logan, we're mutants, remember?" 

She turned to look at Gambit. "Now you, what happened?" 

Gambit kicked the chair that flew and collapsed against the oven. "A talk wit' Ro."

"Just leave the bastard to himself and he'll be fine." Logan spit the toothpick and retrieved his claws. Jean glanced at him sharply quieting him.

"Logan..I'm going to ask you one last time..please."

Logan glared at Gambit with sharp eyes. "I can't help it Jean…he always hurt Rogue, always, and now that he got his dirty hands on Ororo, he's gonna break her apart too…just what he did to _Rogue_."

"Shut de _hell up Logan!! Y' should be de last person I be havin' dis conversation wit'." Gambit shoved past them and stormed out of the kitchen where the quarrel had erupted._

Jean clenched her teeth and crossed her arms in front of Logan. "Care to explain me what happened?" 

"I saw 'Ro cryin' jus' when I came in, an' I smelled the Cajun on her and I _knew he said somethin' to her to hurt her." Logan grabbed a bear from the fridge._

Jean shook her head and took a seat in one of the kitchen chairs. "Logan, just leave the matters in their hands, I'm sure they can figure it out. It's just that everything came clashing down on him because he happened to be with Ororo, and then the news of Rogue's powers and her injury just messed everything up."

"Y' always blame everyone else for that Cajun's doing. It ain't gonna happen no more, trust me." Logan chucked the bear in a minute and dumped it in the trashcan with a loud thump.

"Let's go, don't you want to see Rogue? I thought that'd be more important to you than going after Gambit." Jean said as she led Logan out of the kitchen.

****

"I have discussed these conclusions with the Professor and now I am going to elaborate it for you so you can fully understand the situation. With the help of the Professor, Rogue controlled her powers, however after a while, she lost her powers. How?" Hank paused to scribble something on the note pad he had.

Everyone sat down in the huge, metallic, conference room as they paid close attention to the briefings that the mansion doctors gave them. Their appearances were rather relaxed than they were before as each of them fought to find peace in their hearts and convinced themselves that they couldn't help their team mate in anyway until she came out of the coma—which would be only through her own ability.

"This shouldn't be very confusing since I'm trying to make it as simple as possible. Rogue's brain was over functioning as it tried to keep the powers in check. What happens when you put too much air in a balloon? It bursts. Consequently, Rogue's brain was over functioning as it had too many other personalities to restore, her own psyche, and now the ability to help keep her absorption powers in check was out of her brain's ability to manage. All this resulted in a massive spontaneous disintegration that shut down all her powers soon after she controlled them, without the Professor, or me knowing it." 

Hank explained the details to the x-men staring at him. Although he had been doing this job for years now, but today, it felt more difficult than ever. He hated to disappoint his teammates, but it had to be done in this case.

Cecelia Reyes noticed the hiatus in Hank's speech and she resumed it from there on. "So, from the water on her bathroom floor, we assumed that Rogue's foot slipped on it like any others' would have, but when she did fall, she was vulnerable to any injuries that came." She finished with a low, hushed voice in the already silent room.

Cyclops cleared his throat and asked after an, awkward silent moment. "So…what now?"

The professor answered Scott question. "Unfortunately, Rogue's brain activity is stable but we cannot calculate the period of time of how long she will stay in the coma. It would be foolish to jump to any conclusions considering her current state of mind. God forbid, if her position becomes worse, we are going to have to put Rogue on a…life support system,—which can only remain _temporary. So…all we can do is pray."  _

Professor looked at his students sitting in grief for a teammate they were going to loose. It hurt him, especially when he saw them helpless and found himself unable to help them. But he remembered, how on their first day of the team's unison, he had asked them to be prepared for any obstacle, any tragedy that may come their way. And he hated to admit, that one of the worst of them had finally arrived.

Distressed and tired, Professor found it harder to speak as time passed. "Thank you Hank and Cecilia. And as for all of you, you are dismissed for today." Professor said as he waited for everyone to leave. "With the exception of Dr. Reyes and Hank who will take care of Rogue, you all are to recommence your daily sessions and practices."

****

"'Ro?" Logan questioned as he followed Ororo to the women's dormitory. She refused to reply and remained silent on her way to the room. Logan hated distraught and weak women and even more so, he hated the fact that one of the bravest from the x-men had become one of those women. Never in his life had he seen Ororo so upset, quiet and unlike herself as she walked pretending she did not hear a word. 

But Logan followed her nonetheless. "'Ro, what's so bad that ya can't have a word with me?" He grabbed her shoulder but she rejected it and stood a step away from her room's door.

"Logan, let go of my hand." Ororo took a deep breath as he let her hand loose, however she remained at the door, a signed that gave him permission to speak. "What is it?"

Reclining one shoulder against the wall, Logan crossed his arms and stared at the floor. "What's the matter darlin'? I could sense something in you when I landed." He waited for a response.

"I…I don't know." Ororo looked at her hand and it took a lot of strength for her to not Logan see the tears in her eyes.

Sensing her helplessness, he grabbed her chin to make her face him. "Tell me, what is it? The Cajun hur--"

"It's not about Remy! Okay? He did not do anything to me. For the thousandth time, I am _pleading you Logan, to not talk about Remy." Ororo blew up as she smacked his hand away. She raised her hand, gesturing him to stop as he searched for a reply. She slumped her shoulders in defeat. "I..got into a relationship with Remy and…"_

"Well that's something hot off the press. _Newsflash_ 'Ro, we all know 'bout it. Even that kiddo, Jubilee knows." Logan huffed loudly.

Ororo opened the door and mentioned him to come inside. "And I did some things that I should not have..I eavesdropped on Rogue when she controlled her powers, and then did not tell Remy about it." She clasped a hand on her mouth as she tried to maintain her composure. Her teary, blood shot eyes weren't helping much either.

"'k, you made a mistake. So what now?" Logan came closer and grasped her shoulders warmly.

Not meeting his eyes, Ororo turned around and faced the window. "The sad part is…Rogue got hurt and Remy hates the fact that I did not tell him about her powers. Even though it was supposed to be a surprise, Remy thinks that if I could have told him, he at least would have gotten a chance to cherish her happiness with her, but…that seems impossible now that Rogue is hardly alive." She finished with a sob.

Logan closed his eyes and went to envelope her in her arms. "Shh..Its okay now, it's not your fault. See it wasn' that hard darlin'. All you had t' do was to explain it." As Logan soothed her hurting away, deep down in his heart, he himself longed for some comfort as he found himself coming very close to loosing a friend--a daughter--a sister--a companion…

****

"Jubes, please hear me out. Your starving and skipping meals will not help any one of us, neither will it bring Rogue back so easily." Bobby pleaded his younger friend as he lingered the spoon around her mouth, trying to convince her to eat her breakfast.

Logan patted Jubilee on the back and went to take his seat beside the empty seat. "C'mon kiddo, we shouldn't have t' do this."

"Logan's right Jubilee." Professor added while Jean, Scott, Ororo, and Hank sat in their respective places. Dr. Cecilia Reyes remained in the ICU, in charge of Rogue's care at the moment while Hank took a break for himself.

"I…can't. I just can't. It's hard because I'm sitting here eating and Rogue's there all alone, in pain." Jubilee wiped her red eyes with a tissue. "And I'm sorry for being like this."

Defeated, Bobby threw the spoon in the cereal bowl and took his own seat. "Fine. Do whatever you want to." The iceman occupied himself in his own breakfast. Starving or fasting was out of his beliefs and he thought that doing so only created more tension as others begged one person to take care of themselves when it was not a priority.

"Excuse me. I'll..be back in no time." Jubilee excused herself from the breakfast table and walked out of the kitchen in a hurry.

Scott and Jean talked telepathically while the others discussed some other issues trying to get their minds away a little.

"Has anyone seen Gambit lately?" Hank asked.

"I'm right 'ere." Coincidently, Gambit stood in the doorway of the kitchen. Ororo noticed he had showered, shaved, and changed. She sighed in relief and averted her eyes from his view. 

Jean cleared her throat and forced herself to smile. "So, you finally went to bed last night hmm?" She grabbed a plate full of pancakes and passed it around for Gambit as he took his chair.

Gambit nodded. "Uh…oui."

Jean studied Gambit's face closely and very carefully tried to feel something. The moment she felt Gambit's gaze upon her, she got up and reached for the kettle. "I..will get some more coffee. Scott, hon do you want anything?" She moved towards the countertop to gather her ingredients.

"No thanks, I'm okay." Scott continued eating.

Professor took his bite and a frown appeared on his already concerned face. "Is there something on your mind, Gambit?"

"Uh..yeah. Prof, I've decided t' leave dis place..for a while." Gambit felt everyone pause as they tried to take the news. "Not f' good, but at least for a short period o' time."

"What the _hell?!" Bobby's blue eyes widened as he banged his fists on the table. The glass slipped from Jean's hand but she raised it with her telekinesis. Everyone stared at Gambit and asked him all sorts of questions._

Logan cut in before Gambit got a chance to speak. "Don't think that we _didn't expect somethin' like this from ya." __I say you go to hell an' I don' give a shit._

Ororo kept one slim, shaking hand to temple as she tried to find the right words to speak. "Remy…do you have _any idea what you are going to do by leaving? Don't stay for us, but stay for _Rogue_…" She looked at him with helpless, pleading eyes._

Gambit remained quiet and lowered his head as he himself did not know how to reply.

"Gambit, what is the reason that you came to this decision, I believe all of us at least have the right to know this." Professor said in a low voice, disappointed voice.

Gambit tried his best to make out the words from his already raspy voice as he spoke. "I t'ink its for de best. F' me an' for Rogue..and f' Ororo." Gambit quickly let his eyes glance at Ororo who had bowed her head in shame. "All of us know dat Rogue not gonna last long...its not dat I don' believe in God savin' her. But I'm gonna wait f' her t' be okay. As much as I hate to say dis, I'm goin' t' wait until we _know dat… she's got not'ing left in her. Dats all. I…don' t'ink loosing Rogue will be some'ting I'd be able t' go t'rough so easily. Surely I'll come back, but f' now, I need t' get away. So I've come up wit' dis decision."_

Gambit finished and stared at their faces. He expected pathetic reactions, but this was nothing. From their looks, he felt they accepted it. And their acceptance was all what he needed right now.

"Its your decision Remy, you know better. But if you need to talk, we are here." Professor announced numbly.

****

A/N: Okay, so did this chapter clear out any confusion? And yes, Gambit's leaving! But that is after…Rogue dies…Mwahahah..More DRAMA…Things are getting worse and worse, aren't they? Well I hope you enjoyed reading. Stick around, because I'll be updating another chapter sooner than you think I will :) Those who are reading and reviewing, THANKS a lot.

Samman


	9. Part IX

**Disclaimer: I don't own the x-men; they are the property of Marvel and are being used without permission. So please don't' sue me!**

**Author's Notes: Wow, I can't believe this. This fic was supposed to have two chapters only and look where we are. Thanks to you guys and your reviews that convinced me to do this. And I hope that the sadistic chapters aren't boring you because there are MORE comin' :) Enjoy the drama. **

****

**Waited for so long**

by _Samman_

**Part IX**

Remy threw another dirty towel in the basket that already contained some clothes that needed to be taken to the laundry. He picked up the magazines from the floor and threw them in the corner. Cleaning up his room was not of his favorite things to do, especially when he wasn't in a good mood.

He strolled towards his closet and brought out a bundle of t-shirts hanged neatly in hangers. He threw them in the open suitcase and began to clean the closet, which was his main target. Too many items in his room had over crowded it and he needed time to back…before hand. Like other times, like good times, Rogue was not there to do it for him when he left for bigger missions.

Some papers fell near his foot and he discovered they fell from his jeans' and shirts-pockets. They were pictures. Pictures of Rogue. Remy bent down to pick them up, his muscles aching from lack of practice. Involuntarily, a small smile appeared on his lips as he let his eyes take in the forms of the picture. In the picture was Rogue, sitting down with her hand up against her cheek for support as she leaned on the table talking to Storm and Jean at a party. Her tumble of dark hair fell on a rosy cheek that he could only have dreams of caressing.

Remy remembered when he had taken the picture. Without her knowing it. Otherwise it would have been a disaster, a _major _crime to do so since Rogue never liked her pictures. Besides, Remy always had a spy, Jubilee—who worked for him by giving him pictures of Rogue through different accesses. And he paid her back by giving her a treat, taking her to the movies, or something to reward her for a mere picture of Rogue—that meant the world to him. He shook his head smiling bitterly. What a turn of events. This is life, he thought.

On the other hand, the picture included Ororo in a chair, laughing merrily, her white teeth sparkling against the beautiful, chocolate colored skin. Remy sighed, why was she becoming the attention of everyone after the accident? Only because she had heard Rogue's conversation because she loved him? Was it too big of a crime to overhear a close friend's conversation? He almost regretted the fact that he had already asked her these questions the day before.

Securing all the pictures in one envelope, Remy kept them in the drawer with a pained expression on his face. He stood in the middle in his tight white T and jeans. Cracking his knuckles, he scanned the dirty room, trying to find his next target. His eyes fell upon his acoustic guitar and he picked it up, his fingers aching to strum the strings. It would have been a lot better if he hadn't packed away his electric guitar and paddles. He could bring the walls down through the distortion—which could help ease the pain. __

_*Remy could ya'll stop bangin' this music puleez? It's hurtin' mah ears, seriously.* Rogue had said to him playfully with her hands on her ears when he had been playing his electric guitar in the room._

Remy grabbed the instrument and sat down on the corner of the bed. His nimble fingers started strumming the heavy strings of his acoustic. The muscles of his arm ripped through the short sleeve of his shirt and silver bracelet glistened that dangled against his wrist that plucked the guitar. The soft sound soothed his ears, gave him comfort as it took away the silence of the empty room.

Just like always, his lips formed the melodious and sweet words as he hummed the song slowly. 

In an instant, Remy kept the guitar on the floor, not being able to sing anymore. Although his heart told him to bang the guitar against the wall or explode it with the same fingers that plucked it, but the pain was too much to do so. The pain burning in his soul kept him from doing anything, it made his heart numb. "Rogue." His hoarse voice called lowly before glancing one look at the room as he went to get his laundry.

****

Her fingers lightly grabbed the heavy clothes out of the drier. She heard footsteps in the laundry room. Ororo braced herself, she could tell who it was. She always knew who it was. Obviously, knowing him for a long period of time, had taught Ororo a lot about him. But right now, as she felt him drifting away from her, she felt as she had never known him. 

_*Y' don't know 'Ro, he's so unpredictable.* She remembered Rogue's words once when they had been indulged in a late night girl talk. __*He –is- unpredictable, now I know*. Tears glistened in her blue eyes and she wiped them away quickly._

"Remy". Ororo abruptly turned around as she felt him come up behind her. "What are you doing this late, in here?" She asked solemnly, hiding any emotion behind a fake smile.

Remy nodded towards the basket full of clothes that he had in his hand. "De same reason y' came here for." He said casually, setting the basket on top of a drier. He stood beside her and began to prepare his washer. "I've started packin'."

"Oh…" Ororo chewed on her lip trying her best to hide the tears. She remained standing beside him and busied herself in taking out dried clothes. "Why so late? You should have gone the minute you found out Rogue was in a coma." She said sarcastically, remembering not to look at him. 

Continuing to throw his shirts in the washer, Remy was not affected by her comments in the least. He remained quiet all the while.

"Frankly, I do not care anymore. It's your decision. Who are _we to come between you and your decisions?" Ororo turned and gave him fake, sadistic smile._

Remy kept a shirt down and waited for a moment before saying anything. He had already done enough. "Why are y' pretendin' as if you don' care, 'Ro?" He raised her chin. "Please tell me y' do."

Ororo slapped his hand away lightly and let a tear fall her eyes. "Would it matter to you? Tell me why are you so hollow inside Remy? Why don't you feel anything? Why are you leaving Rogue behind? Why are you leaving me behind?" She questioned him, her intense words, and her pitiful state cutting him deep and sharp.

"I…I don' know 'Ro. I'm sorry…f' every'ting. For everyt'ing. I regret it…" Remy let the words escape his mouth slowly, carefully as if doing so would ease the pain.

She shut her eyes tightly and looked at him. "You regret it? You regret _us?" Ororo said looking up at him as he ran his hand through his hair._

"No. It's not dat. I know I've messed everyt'ing up but I can' stay 'ere wit' Rogue dying an' killing myself by not being wit' you. It will only get worse." He waited for her response but none came. She stood looking up at him, stunned with wide eyes.

Remy continued in a hoarse voice. "Y' may get de impression dat I was usin' you for my own comfort but I don' know why I did de t'ings I did. May be its time I take a different route to m' life." He gulped and looked down at his feet while rubbing his wearing eyes.

****

Jubilee stood before the examination window, her hands plastered to the window just like they had been there for the past few days. Seeing no doctors there, she had found a good opportunity and came down to talk to Rogue in her thoughts.

_C'mon Rogue. Y' should be okay now. Hank doesn' let anyone in so I have to stand here for the longest time to talk to you. Y'know this seems pretty lame but I hope you're hearin' me. I thought you were a brave girl. Or the bravest of all girls…I should say. Too much sleep ain't good for you, and you know that. You used to be a mornin' person. I miss you, we all do. You know, it's very hard to believe all this. _

_We found out about your powers. I know that it was supposed to be a surprise, but we had to find out, y' know? Once you wake up, we'll throw you a big, big party. Uh.. Everyone cried the day we found out, even popsicle cried, y'know. I mean, c'mon, he used to be the one to cheer everyone up, but he hasn't been okay since the day we found out about you  being in coma. And Remy? He's so quiet, I've never seen that Gumbo so quiet before. Well except that he's been playing that old guitar for the past few days in his room. Wolvie is crashin' down the danger room. Y'better wake up before he does something else. And Storm? Well…uh..Strom hasn't said a prayer with us, she just..cries and cries._

Jubilee looked down at her painted nails as she thought continuously. She looked at the fingers' reflection the mirror thinking to herself, and let her eyes stare at the floor of the room. The hair on her neck stood, a beeping sound started echoing in the large room. Slowly she raised her head to allow herself to look in the room and her eyes widened. Her mouth opened wide and she found herself unable to speak. Quick as lightning, she found her feet running down the end of the hallway, slipping, and knocking things down as she ran down the stairs to get the x-men.

****

"Scott-Jean...Logan..Professor...Uh..." Jubilee paused to take a breath, she reclined against the wall as she entered the TV lounge.

Scott and Jean got up from their positions, their eyes wide from horror and nervousness. Bobby looked at her quizzically, trying to figure out the situation. "What is it Jubilee, where are you coming from?" Scott asked her quickly. "Were you with Rog--?

Jubilee panted and nodded. "She…she..oh my god…I." Before she could finish, half of the people were already running towards the sick bay.

****

**A/N**: Mwaha hahaha. MORE DRAMA. Liked it, hated it? Questions? Drop a review and I'd be more than happy to give you the details.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Samman****


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